Hidden Strength 3: Siren's Revenge
by srdaire
Summary: As Siren becomes ever stronger, Aralyne is forced to make sacrifices to defeat her evil side. I own nothing except the characters Aralyne, Siren, Catherine, and Alyss.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

It was the night of a full moon and seagulls were soaring through the sky. A church bell tolled, making the scene seem eerie with fog all over Nesidy. Tulio was working the nightshift on Captain Amelia's ship and was inside the cabin, studying a map. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw shadows pass by the window, and heard a voice say, "He's inside." He quickly blew out the candle and hid up in the rafters.

"Get him."

The door busted open and a handful of villains entered the cabin.

"He's gone!" shouted Captain Hook.

"Search the room!" ordered John Silver.

Tulio dropped down from the rafters behind the band of pirates and said, "Hey, a party, am I invited?"

The pirates attacked him and Tulio kicked a sword out of someone's hand before running out of the cabin. They chased him across the ship, and he eventually grabbed a sword, fighting them off. They surrounded him and backed him up to the edge of the ship. His foot slipped, and Tulio fell over backwards. Losing his sword, he dangled from the edge of the ship by his fingertips.

"We did have other plans for you," said Hook, "Pity, I so would have preferred to see you hanged." He stepped on Tulio's hands and he fell over backwards into the frigid water. The pirates laughed when he didn't resurface….

* * *

><p>The pirates left Nesidy and came across the old Horned King's castle which had been rebuilt. Inside the throne room, Siren sat in a chair with a myriad of villains surrounding her.<p>

"Well? Where is he?" she demanded when they returned empty handed.

"When we tried grabbing him, he fell into the ocean, and drowned," said Hook, pretending to be upset, while the other pirates remained silent.

"I wanted him _alive!_" she shrieked, her eyes blazing. It was amazing how much the other villains were afraid of her.

"We don't really need him, do we?" Smee piped up, "Why don't we just go out and kill Aralyne now?"

Siren scowled down at him. "I had Chernabog bring all of you dolts back from the dead for a reason!" She stood up from her throne. "If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself!" she muttered leaving the room.

* * *

><p>I had just finished the first day of school of my junior year of college, and raced home to my apartment. I couldn't wait to tell Tulio all about it! Okay, not really. The first day is always the most boring where teachers just introduce themselves and talk about how much "fun" we're to have over the semester. I just really couldn't wait to see Tulio. According to my calculations, he and I have been dating for the past nine months, but time worked differently here in the real world than it did in Incantationen. A regular school day for me could equal days there or even weeks, but I could spend months over there and no time will pass at all here. It was strange, so I tried not to think about it too much. On the bright side, if I got tired of school, I could just go on a bit of a vacation with Tulio and still go to all of my classes.<p>

As soon as I parked my truck, I sprinted inside my apartment, and dropped my white and pink backpack onto the living room floor. I quickly went over to my bedroom and opened up a jewelry box on my dresser. Buried at the very bottom beneath a tangled mess of necklaces and bracelets was the magic ring that allowed me to go between worlds. When I slipped it on, I thought of Nesidy, and the next thing I knew, I stood in the center of that magical town, and by the looks of it, it was early morning.

Around me were the citizens of the town, some waving to me and calling out my name.

With a grin, I waved and returned their greetings, before walking towards Tulio's house. I hadn't gotten far when I saw Grandpa Lao Shi walking my way.

"Oh, Grandpa!" I said rushing to the leader of Nesidy, "Do you know if Tulio is home from work, yet? I…." He gave me this sad look that made me stop talking for a moment. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Aralyne, I'm sorry, but Tulio's dead," he said getting straight to the point.

"Wha–?" I said feeling as if the air had been knocked out of me. I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe, or speak. The world seemed to be tilting back and forth, and I felt cold. Grandpa reached out to steady me.

"Aralyne!"

It couldn't be true! It had to be some sick joke! "No," I managed to choke out quietly, then shouted, "NO!" Tears were now pouring from my eyes, and I collapsed onto the ground, hugging myself. "Tulio! No! No!"

"I'm sorry, Aralyne," said Grandpa, then took my hand and placed something on my palm. I looked to see it was Tulio's magic ring, and I curled my fingers around it, holding it close. "He was attacked on Amelia's ship, fell into the ocean, and didn't resurface. This was all we could find of him."

We suddenly heard maniacal laughter, and my head shot up to see… _me! _For a moment, I couldn't believe what I was staring at, until I heard her – _me? _– speak, "What's wrong, Aralyne? Missing your one true love?" More evil laughter. Even Grandpa and everyone else who had happened to be watching was surprised, because no one spoke.

Then the voice processed in my head. I _knew _that voice, and not because it was _mine_; I had heard it before mocking me, threatening me. _**I'll be back, Aralyne, for my revenge….**_

"_Siren?!_" I gasped out in disbelief. How the _hell _did she end up having her own body? And one that looked like _mine?!_

"Who else, dimwit?" she said scowling down at me from the top of the fence she sat on, "I see you're as stupid as ever! And with me around, you'll have no rest, Aralyne. I'll make sure you _die _so that _I _remain in charge! Unlike the Horned King. One minute you're on top, the next you're sushi. Now, is that fair, gramps? I ask you," she said smirking at Grandpa. "But then, whoever said we had to play fair?"

"_You!_" I snarled jumping to my feet, and running to the wall. I grabbed her by the front of her short skimpy red dress, and pulled her close so that we were face to face. "_What did you do to Tulio?!_" I demanded.

"_I _didn't do anything! Personally, I wanted him alive, but it's so hard to find good help these days," she said.

"_You're lying!_" I practically screeched, "_Tell me what you did to him, or I'll KILL you!_"

"Someone got a little feisty!" Siren mocked pulling herself free from my grip, "I'm telling the truth. My pirates said he fell to his death. A tragic accident, really, but it works for me if _you're _miserable. Face it, honey, I'm much stronger than you are, and imagine this: with you – the _true ruler of Incantationen _– dead, _I'll _be the new queen!"

I felt nauseous at the prospect of _Siren_ becoming queen. An evil sneer crossed her face. She suddenly jumped off the wall, heading straight for me. A dagger suddenly materialized in her hand and she aimed straight for my heart. I was still in shock from losing Tulio and didn't move on time. Siren nearly struck me when Danny appeared out of nowhere, and caught the villainess by the waist, throwing her to the side. With a snarl of rage, she leapt at me again, and once more, Danny caught her and held her back.

Realizing she could not harm me at all with Danny around, Siren shouted out, "This isn't the end, Aralyne! It's just the beginning! You'll never find me, but I'll find you!" With an evil laugh, she suddenly vanished in a puff of red smoke.

"Dammit! She got away!" Danny swore then said, "Aralyne, are you okay? Aralyne?"

I ignored him, staring at the spot where Siren had stood just moments before. I didn't just feel nauseous, I felt sick like I was going to faint. _How did this happen?!_ _And why to me?!_

"Aralyne?" said Grandpa, but I ignored him, too.

With tears still streaming down my face, I shuffled in a trance-like state all the way to Tulio's house, not paying any attention to the people around me. Upon my arrival, I opened the door, stepped inside, and shut it behind me, staring around the living room. There on the couch was where I did my homework last year, and read books while he sat beside me, holding me against him. My throat tightened, and I turned my head, making my way through the rest of the house. The kitchen/dining area where we ate our meals together. The bathroom where we had our argument about whether or not the toilet seat should be left down (we compromised and agreed to just shut the lid all together). And finally the bedroom, where we never once went beyond sleeping or cuddling. I sat down on the edge of the bed staring at the empty space. My silent tears suddenly turned into loud wailing sobs, as I curled up into a fetal position. My heart was in pieces that would never become whole again.

* * *

><p>I kept drifting in and out of sleep so I didn't know nor care if it was the same day, or the next, or even a year had passed. When I was awake, I stared at the empty spot beside me in bed just thinking of Tulio's face, especially his cocky grin. The heartache I felt was overwhelming, causing me to cry from the moment I woke up until I fell back asleep again.<p>

After a certain point, I heard someone knocking on the front door, but I didn't have the energy to get up, and instead listened to a bunch of muffled voices.

"Aralyne, open up! We know you're in there!"

"Stop it! She needs time alone to grieve!"

"We haven't seen her since yesterday, and I'm worried."

"I need to speak with her. It is of the upmost importance."

"Should we give her another day?"

"No, she could be hurt!"

"What I have to say cannot wait. The fate of Incantationen rests on her."

I heard the door open, and a moment later, I stared lachrymosely at Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, Grandpa, and a man with long hair covering his right eye. The man seemed familiar, but I didn't bother trying to remember where I've seen him before.

"Aralyne," said Danny sitting at the edge of the bed, brushing a strand of shoulder-length hair away from my face. Even though I haven't gotten up from this spot once, I could tell my hair was wild and all over the place from not brushing it. "Come on, Aralyne, you have to get up, now," he urged in a quiet tone.

"Danny, don't," said Sam grabbing his arm.

"Please, Sam, she's my friend," the ghost-boy said, "I'm just trying to help her."

The Goth girl pulled away, and kind of stood to the side. Danny wrapped one arm around me and pulled me into a sitting position. To keep me from flopping back over, he had me lean against his chest and shoulder.

"Aralyne," said Grandpa, and my gaze shifted over to him, "You can't just lay here and not do anything, not as long as Siren is out there plotting to rule the world." I didn't respond. I didn't care what Siren did anymore. Tulio was gone and it was entirely her fault. She could come and kill me for all I cared. Almost as if Grandpa had read my mind, he added, "You can't live your life like this. If you're not going to do anything to stop Siren from wreaking havoc, then we'll make you!"

"Grandpa!" Sam and Danny protested.

Ignoring them, Lao Shi said, "Hatori, you know what to do."

My eyes flickered over to the other man, finally recalling who he was. Hatori Sohma from _Fruits Basket_. Hatori stepped forward and knelt before me.

"Aralyne," he said in a voice that seemed distant and cold, "I'm going to erase your memory of Tulio."

"N-No!" I finally croaked out, my eyes widening and my heart hammering, "No!"

"Danny, hold her down!" Grandpa ordered.

"If you help them, Daniel Fenton, I swear I'll _never_ be your friend again!" I yelled pulling away from the ghost-boy. He stared at me in surprise, then looked over at Grandpa for no one ever defied him when he gave an order.

"Hold her down, Danny. She won't remember this conversation," said Grandpa.

Curling my hand into a fist, I struck out at Danny, but he turned intangible and my hand went right through his head.

He suddenly grabbed me, and pinned me to his chest, keeping a tight hold on my arms.

"_Let me go!_" I screamed kicking my legs to prevent anyone else from getting near me. Fresh tears began to stream down my face as I struggled against Danny's grip. I wasn't going to forget Tulio! They couldn't make me!

A blue dragon's tale suddenly sprouted out from Grandpa's behind, and he used it to wrap my legs in a bind. Now I was pretty much completely immobile.

"This isn't going to hurt," Hatori said placing a hand over my eyes. I tried shaking my head to get rid of him, but his palm held me in place.

"Please, no!" I finally begged, "I don't want to forget him! I love him!"

"I'm sorry, Aralyne, but it's the only way for you to defeat Siren without a distraction," said Grandpa.

A beam of white light shot out of Hatori's palm, and it was the last thing I saw before everything went black….

* * *

><p>Aralyne slumped unconsciously in Danny's arms, and Hatori stood up, pulling away.<p>

"If she can't remember Tulio, then she wouldn't remember most of what happened to her here, right?" Danny inquired.

"No," said Hatori, "Some of her memories had been altered slightly to fill in the gap that was Tulio, but she remembers everything."

"Come," said Grandpa, "We must move her to the Benbow Inn before she wakes up."

Danny stood, hoisting Aralyne into his arms, and the four of them left Tulio's house, heading through town. They took her to the inn, and after Grandpa explained everything to Mrs. Hawkins, they set her in the same room she had occupied the first time she had arrived in Nesidy.

As Sam was leading Danny away, he looked back at Aralyne's sleeping form, guilt gnawing at him. He knew allowing her memories of Tulio to be erased was wrong, but Grandpa was right. As long as Tulio's death was a distraction to her, she couldn't stand up to Siren and defeat her.

_(I'm back! And I've decided to continue the HS series! But remember, this one is going to be completely different from HS 3: A New Generation. Hope you enjoy!)_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

_(Song in this chapter is "Where are We Going from Here" by Blackmore's Night)_

_"On a long road, miles to go_

_It's winding and cold and it's covered with snow_

_But I ask you what we all want to know_

_Where are we going from here…_

_Lines on my face, lines on my hands_

_Lead to a future I don't understand_

_Some things don't go as they're planned…_

_Where are we going from here…_

_Tracing the trails through the mirrors of time_

_Spinning in circles with riddles in rhyme_

_We lose our way, trying to find_

_Searching to find our way home…_

_Trying to find our way home…_

_As the day dies, with tears in our eyes_

_There's too few hellos and too many goodbyes_

_Silence answers our cries…_

_Where are we going from here…_

_We're all on this road, with miles to go_

_Braving new pathways into the unknown_

_But who do you ask, when no one really knows_

_Where we are going from here…_

_Tracing the trails through the mirrors of time_

_Spinning in circles with riddles in rhyme_

_We lose our way, trying to find_

_Searching to find our way home…_

_Trying to find my way home…_

_Please help me find my way home…"_

Over at Siren's castle, she sat in her throne room, staring off into space, thinking. Knowing Aralyne, she would be absolutely heartbroken by now with Tulio dead. Finding her wouldn't be so much of a problem, but killing her would prove difficult. Even if Aralyne was weak and vulnerable, she would be heavily protected. Her scarlet gaze roved over the villains waiting patiently in the room. All of these nefarious characters were both useful and useless to her. She was okay with them being killed again, because she can just have Chernabog bring them back to continue their use, but at the same time she felt as if she were surrounded by idiots and wished for all of them to _remain _dead. Maybe after she killed Aralyne, she would get rid of some of the more annoying villains.

Siren finally spoke up, "If anyone can kill Aralyne, and bring me proof, I'll allow them to wreak havoc wherever, whenever, and on whoever they want. That also includes other worlds."

All of the villains exchanged excited glances before rushing out of the throne room. The pirates seemed to have had a silent mutual agreement that they were splitting up, each believing they had a better idea on how to kill Aralyne.

* * *

><p>I woke up and found myself inside my room at the Benbow Inn. With a groan, I stretched, glad I decided to come to Incantationen for some sleep. At least here, I can take all the time I need to rest, and not have to worry about missing school. Unfortunately yesterday I had just discovered Siren had her own body that was an exact replica of mine but with longer hair and scarlet eyes, and now I had to figure out a way to destroy her. I had saved Incantationen from the Horned King nine months ago, and now my evil side wanted to take up his job. Great! Couldn't I get <em>any <em>rest here?

With a sigh, I got up from bed and went to the dresser to tame the knotted mess that was my hair. There wasn't much I could do with it, now that it was shoulder-length, but I did manage to pull most of it into a small ponytail. The rest of it was my bangs area that couldn't reach the elastic band and so fell in my face. Once that was accomplished, I left the room and walked past Mrs. Hawkins, and Jim working about the place. Thankfully it was my day off from the kitchen, so after waving at the two Hawkins, I left the inn and walked towards the beach. I needed time alone to figure out how to defeat Siren. As I walked by everyone, I smiled and waved, some of them seeming startled, others worried, which obviously grabbed my attention. Why was everyone acting so weird? Shaking my head to push the thought aside, I continued on my way.

Arriving at the beach, I sat on an outcropping of boulders and stared out over the ocean, watching the sunlight sparkle on the waves. This only lasted a minute until I saw a speck heading towards the beach. As it got nearer, I realized it was a rowboat and watched it come ever closer until it got stuck near the reef. There was some sort of giant salamander in the boat wearing a coat and sailing hat, and he looked injured. Jumping off the boulders, I ran across the beach and trudged through the ocean towards the rowboat. By the time I had reached the reef where it was stuck, the water had come up to my torso.

"Mister, are you okay?" I demanded, grabbing the boat with my hands. The salamander crawled out of the rowboat, tipping it over, a small trunk tucked under his arm. I got splashed and was soaked.

"He's a-comin'," the salamander wheezed out in a panic, "Can you hear him? Those gears and gyros clickin' and whirrin' like the devil himself! He's after me chest, that fiendish cyborg and his band of cutthroats. But they'll have to pry it from old Billy Bones' cold dead fingers afore I -" He suddenly started coughing and hunched over.

"Come on, give me your arm," I said reaching out towards him. I got his arm to go around my shoulders and I helped him towards the beach.

"Good lass," he groaned out. When I got him onto the sand, he suddenly collapsed and I could take him no further. "Me chest, lass," he gasped, his breathing strained. I pushed it closer to him and he unlocked it pushing three buttons in a specific order. "He'll be comin' soon. Can't let them find this."

"Who's coming?" I asked and he suddenly grabbed my arm, pulling me close.

"The cyborg!" he whispered urgently into my ear at the same time pressing something into my hand, "Beware the cyborg!" He fell back and moved no more.

_Cyborg? _I only knew of two cyborgs. One was from the group _Teen Titans _and the other was Captain John Silver. The latter was dead, and the former I'm pretty sure wasn't a villain. So who could Billy Bones have been talking about?

Looking down, I saw I held some sort of sphere with strange symbols all over it. _Well, whoever the cyborg is, he is certainly going through a lot of trouble over this odd little sphere_. I knew I should have gone to Nesidy for help, but the ball had me intrigued. _These markings baffle me. Unlike anything I've ever encountered_. I poked at some of the symbols and the sphere suddenly expanded a bit. Tilting my head to the side, I studied it a bit more, twisting the top and sides until it popped open and a multitude of green lights sprung into the air in certain formations.

"Why, it's a map!" I said in amazement staring at a swirling galaxy labeled as _The Milky Way_. I poked at a spot on the galaxy and it suddenly zoomed in. To my left was a solar system I recognized from my years in school. There was the sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, the asteroid belt, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Some distance away from that was another planet labeled _Incantationen_. "No way," I breathed staring at the word and touching the planet. The map zoomed in even more allowing me to see literally _everything _in Incantationen. "The Island Montressor. That's the Magellanic Country! The Coral City! That's the Cygnus Cross and that's the Kerian Abyss. Wait. What's this?" I inquired seeing a deserted island.

I stared at the island, recalling I had seen a picture of it in a book I read a couple of months ago from Nesidy's library. The text flashed before my mind almost as if I were reading the book again. _On the clearest of nights when the winds of the Etherium were calm and peaceful, the greatest merchant ships with their cargoes of Arcturian sura crystals felt safe and secure. Little did they suspect that they were pursued by pirates. And the most feared of all these pirates was the notorious Captain Nathaniel Flint. Like a Candarian zap-wing overtaking its prey, Flint and his band of renegades swooped in out of nowhere. And then, gathering up their spoils, vanished without a trace. Flint's secret trove was never found, but stories have persisted that it remains hidden somewhere at the farthest reaches of Incantationen stowed with riches beyond imagination - the loot of a thousand worlds_. "Why, it-it's... _Treasure Island?!_" I gasped out my mind suddenly racing, "That's Treasure Island?! Flint's trove?! The loot of a thousand worlds? All that treasure is only a boat ride away! Whoever brings it back would hold an eternal place atop the pantheon of explorers!" _Not to mention I could possibly find a weapon to help me defeat Siren!_ "This is it. This is the answer to all my problems!" Pushing another button on the side of the sphere, it sucked back all of the green lights and snapped shut in my hand.

"There he is!" I suddenly heard a voice shout out. Startled, I looked back up to see a couple of rowboats heading my way, both filled with fiendish looking creatures.

"Oh, no," I groaned. Stuffing the map into my pants pocket, I took off running down the beach, leaving behind Billy's body. The sound of gunshots made me cringe and I ducked behind the boulders I had been on earlier. I had to get back to Nesidy, but if I kept running, I'd be in plain view and it would give them easier access to shoot me.

Peeking around the boulders, I saw the creatures had gotten to shore and were disrespecting Billy's body by searching through his empty trunk and clothes.

"It's got to be here somewhere! Find it!" snarled what looked like a giant red scorpion with greasy long hair. He suddenly looked at the sand, and I silently swore. My footprints! When his head turned in my direction, I quickly dove back behind the boulders, my heart hammering in my chest. I wish I had a weapon with me! Preferably Excalibur, as it was _my _sword. Thinking it safe,I peered around the boulders again, but found the scorpion creature had vanished, but his companions were heading back to the rowboats.

"Where did it go?" I murmured, and a second later, a giant red pincher wrapped around my throat, squeezing slightly so that I was choking to get air. I reached up to try and pry the giant claw off, but my fingers just slid over its smooth skin. Just one snip, and my head would be rolling through the sand!

"Well, well, well. Looks like we have a little spy," said the scorpion coming into my line of vision, "And it's the savior, no less. The Captain will be pleased to see you!"

I kicked my legs, hoping to strike him, but I couldn't tell if I was close to my target. The blood was rushing to my head and everything started going gray. I couldn't think straight to defend myself. Gah! Where was a hero when I needed one?! With a final kick, everything went black...

* * *

><p>When Aralyne had stopped struggling, Scroop scuttled back over to his companions, and they all climbed into their rowboats, the young woman flung carelessly onto the floor.<p>

"What luck," he said when they headed back towards their ship, the _R.L.S. Legacy_, "We go to get the map, and instead find Aralyne."

"Silver will be cross we didn't get the map," growled out one of the other pirates.

"Wait, what's that?" hissed out another one pointing at Aralyne's pocket.

Scroop reached inside the pocket, and produced the sphere, a horrid grin crossing his face. "It's the map!"

Everyone in the rowboats cheered, and within minutes, they arrived at the _R.L.S. Legacy _and were pulled on board. Scroop, with map in hand, picked up Aralyne and carried her to John Silver's stateroom. The Captain wasn't there at the moment, so he left the girl and the map on Silver's bed and left.

* * *

><p>I woke up with a pounding headache, and my throat sore. Quickly getting my bearings, I found myself in an unfamiliar room, the map right at my side. Sitting up, I grabbed the ball and held it close, looking about the room. Before I could move, I heard whistling, and something whirring like a machine. The door to the room flew open and in came a cyborg wearing a pirate's outfit, and holding a bowl of something. I had met this man once when I had first arrived in Incantationen, but I thought he had died! <em>How is he alive?!<em>

"John Silver," I croaked out, glaring at him, particularly his robot half. Billy Bones did say for me to beware the cyborg!

"Now, don't be too put off by this hunk of hardware," he said moving his robotic arm and wiggling the electronic fingers, "These gears have been tough getting used to... but they do come in mighty handy from time to time." He turned his robotic arm into a sword, pointing it right at me. I backed up against the wall, not saying anything. Despite the physical threat, he kept his voice friendly as he spoke, handing me the bowl, "Here, now, have a taste of me famous bonzabeast stew. Old family recipe." I stared down into the bowl, not trusting him, sure it was poisoned. An eyeball suddenly floated to the top of the stew, the blue iris looking right at me. With a gasp, I dropped the bowl and it bounced on the bed, spilling about half of it onto the mattress. "ln fact, that was part of the old family!" Silver joked before laughing as if it was the funniest thing in the world. I gave him a disgusted look. "l'm just kiddin'! l'm nothin' if l ain't a kidder. Go on, Lynnie. Have a swig."

I scowled at the nickname he bestowed upon me and glanced back down at the bowl, wary of what other body parts may be floating around in it. Suddenly the silver spoon turned into a straw and sucked up the stew in one swig.

"Morph! You jiggle-headed blob of mischief! So that's where you was hiding!" said Silver as the straw then turned into an adorable pink blob with a face.

The blob belched and rested inside the bowl.

I was curious as to what kind of creature it was, and despite the fact I couldn't stand John Silver right now, I inquired, "What is that thing?" The blob floated out of the bowl and nuzzled my face.

''What is that thing?'' it repeated transforming into a tiny replica of me.

"He's a morph; I rescued the little shape-shifter on Proteus One," Silver explained as Morph turned back into the pink blob and zoomed over to the pirate, "He took a shine to me. We been together ever since. Right? Yeah. Nice boy."

I was somewhat surprised this dastardly villain had a bit of a soft spot, treating Morph like a dear pet.

"Now, down to business, Lynnie," said the pirate his voice becoming stern and pressing the tip of the sword into the center of my chest, "You have the map and know how to work it, yes?"

I glared at him, and held the sphere even closer to me. That was all the answer he needed.

"Siren wants you dead, but seeing as how you have what I want, I'm going to keep you alive. However, if you cross my path, I swear I will make you suffer. Am I understood?"

"You're just going to kill me anyway, so get on with it," I snapped. His one eye narrowed at me, and his robotic arm slashed out. I gasped, placing a hand on my left cheek, feeling blood drip between my fingers.

Without saying another word, he left the room with Morph.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

_(Song in this chapter is "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" by Olivia Holt)_

Danny had returned to the Benbow Inn the minute he had a chance and when he didn't find Aralyne in her room, he asked Mrs. Hawkins where she had gone.

"I don't know," she had confessed, "She didn't say anything when she left."

The guilt he had felt earlier grew along with a sense of unease. Something wasn't right. He left the inn and raced around town asking people if he had seen Aralyne. They all said yes, but no one had a clue as to where she went. Finally Snow White game him an answer.

"I saw her heading towards the beach about two hours ago. She may still be there."

"Thanks, Snow," he said before heading towards the beach. There he found Aralyne's footprints, as well as as dead body of some sort of slug creature.

"Oh, no. Aralyne, what did you get yourself into this time?" he muttered turning into his Phantom form. After studying the markings in the sand a bit longer, he came to the conclusion that she had been kidnapped... again. Jumping into the air, he flew off back into town to tell Grandpa.

* * *

><p>Siren hadn't waited for very long when Jafar returned. One of the very few villains she had respect for, except he had his views set too low in trying to rule Agrabah in <em>Aladdin<em>. With his powers, he could have taken over the _world!_

"What is it?" she asked sounding bored as she twirled Triton's stolen trident in her fingers.

"Aralyne has vanished from Nesidy," said Jafar bowing towards the villainess, "And no one seems to know of her whereabouts."

"What?!" Siren snapped, her eyes blazing, "She can't have gone back to her world! She would never leave the place Tulio had once been a part of!" She suddenly gasped as she felt a sting on her left cheek. She touched her face and was astounded to find her fingers painted with blood. "_What is this?!"_

Jafar silently gaped at her. The slash on Siren's face had appeared out of nowhere!

* * *

><p>The cut on my cheek had stopped bleeding; thankfully it was just a sallow scratch. Sick and tired of sitting around in Silver's cabin doing absolutely nothing, I stashed the map inside my pocket and hopped off my bed. I opened the door and poked my head outside to see the hallway completely empty. I wondered how much trouble I would be in for leaving the room? Leaving my temporary prison, I wandered through the corridor until I eventually found my way up on deck. Everyone was running around doing their job, and so far had paid me no mind. Silver was off on the opposite end of the ship making sure everything was fine. Looking about, I found we were out in the middle of the ocean with no sign of land anywhere. I could have jumped overboard right now, but I had no clue which direction we were heading, or which way Nesidy was!<p>

Suddenly a large creature with a red face, long beard, and four arms shoved me out of the way so that I landed against the ship's rail.

"Watch it, twerp," it growled out turning to me and shaking one of its fists in my face. I scoffed at it. The creature narrowed its eyes at me and stomped off.

Looking around the ship, my gaze landed upon three other odd-looking pirate creatures huddled together and murmuring among each other. The fattest one saw me staring and motioned for the others to get quiet. They all eyed me.

"What are you looking at, weirdo?" growled out a head with eight tentacles for legs sitting on top of another pirate that was just a body _without _a head. The tentacled-head scuttled off onto a barrel.

"Yeah, weirdo," snickered the headless pirate, his face being on his torso and stomach. I shuddered involuntarily.

Hearing a loud _hiss_ above me, I looked up to see the scorpion creature crawling down the shrouds towards me.

"Little girls should learn to mind their own business," he snarled, towering over me when he reached the deck.

"Why? You got something to hide, bright eyes?" I retorted with a smirk. After defeating the Horned King, not much scared me anymore.

With a scowl, the scorpion grasped me by my shirt front, lifted me up to his eye-level, and hissed into my face, "Maybe your ears don't work so well."

Turning my head to the side, I gagged. "Yeah. Ahem. Too bad my nose works just fine." His breath _stank!_ It smelled like rotten fish mixed into a dung heap.

"Why, you impudent little -"

He suddenly lifted me higher, and slammed me into the main mast. I grimaced at the pain in my back, and my headache returned.

The crew began cheering and shouting out ideas as to what should be done to me.

"Go ahead! Slice him! Dice him!"

"Any last words, little girl?" the scorpion inquired pointing one pincer below my chin.

John Silver suddenly appeared and grasped the scorpion's pincer with his cyborg hand, while enjoying a plum.

"Mr. Scroop," _bite_, "you ever see what happens to a fresh plum when you squeeze real _hard?_" He squeezed the pincer in his grasp, and Scroop hissed in pain, releasing me. I tumbled to the deck, landing on my hands and knees. "Now, what's all this, then? You know the rules. There'll be no brawling on this ship."

"Aye, aye, sir," one pirate muttered.

"Any further offenders will be confined to the brig for the remainder of the voyage. Am l clear, Mr. Scroop?" Silver said glaring at the scorpion, his cyborg eye whirling and glowing red.

"Transparently," Scroop muttered.

When the crowd broke up, I slowly climbed back to my feet, and Silver rounded on me.

"_What _do you think you're doing, starting fights on my ship?"

"_I _didn't do anything!" I snapped, "It was that bug thing -"

"Belay that!" he yelled then grabbed a mop and bucket that was nearby, "You're on _my_ ship, and I don't have time to constantly be saving your bum!" He shoved the items into my hands. "You will do _exactly_ as I say if you don't want to be killed! Now, l want this deck swabbed spotless and heaven help you if l come back and it's not done. Morph?" The little pink blob appeared. "Keep an eye on this pup, and let me know if there be any more distractions."

When Silver stormed off, Morph's eyes grew and were trained on me.

I sighed. As much as I hated to admit it, Silver was right. If I wanted to survive, I had to follow his orders. I began mopping the deck.

* * *

><p>Once everyone had left Aralyne alone, Silver had ordered the entire crew below decks so that he could speak to them in private.<p>

"So, we're all here, then," said the Captain entering the dining area, "Now, if you pardon my plain speaking, gentlemen, are you all... _stark-raving, totally blinking daft?!_" He had turned his robotic arm into a sword and swung it around at the crew, which dodged each slash. "She's the only one that knows how to use the map! If she dies early, we lose that knowledge!"

"She's an impudent little snip," Mr. Scroop hissed out.

"You just stick to the plan, you bug-brained twit," Silver snapped, "As for the girl, l'll run her so ragged, she won't have time to think."

* * *

><p>Night had fallen a long time ago, and I was still swabbing the deck. Morph and transformed into a mini mop and went around my feet and over my shoes, laughing. When I paused to wipe sweat from my brow, he floated up to my face and turned back into the bink blob, hiccuping some bubbles.<p>

"Well, this has been a fun day, huh?" I sighed sarcastically to him, "Making new friends like that spider psycho."

"Spider psycho, spider psycho," Morph repeated morphing into Scroop.

"Heh. A little uglier," I smirked.

Morph took my suggestion and laughed in a sinister way.

"Pretty close," I chuckled.

"Well thank heavens for little miracles. Up here for a few hours and the deck's still in one piece," said Captain Silver coming back up on deck.

I thought of what happened earlier and lowered my gaze to the suds on deck. "Um, look, l, uh... What you did... Thanks."

"Didn't anyone ever teach you to pick your fights a bit more carefully?" he inquired. I looked back up at him for a moment, then turned away and continued mopping.

"No," I replied shortly, "When I was fourteen, I started sticking up for myself against bullies."

"Oh. Uh-huh," he said leaning against the railing beside me, "Sorry, lass."

"Hey, no big deal," I replied setting the mop aside and leaning against the rail, too, "I'm doin' just fine."

"Is that so?" he said intrigued, "Like it or not, l'll be pounding a few skills into that thick head of yours to keep you out of trouble."

"What?" I said turning to him, not believing what I heard.

"From now on l'm not letting you out of me sight."

"You can't do -"

"You won't so much as eat, sleep, or scratch your bum without my say-so."

"Don't do me any favors!" I snapped, not sure what he was up to.

"Oh, you can be sure of that, my lass. You can be sure of that."

* * *

><p>For weeks, we sailed, and Silver had me doing all sorts of jobs on the ship. Back when I was on Captain Amelia's ship, I didn't have to do much, but I did learn a lot. Here, Silver had me doing nearly everything!<p>

"Put some elbow into it," he yelled as I dangled over the side of the ship trying to scrape barnacles off the hull. Several times, I had nearly been washed away if it weren't for the life-line keeping me tied to the ship.

_"Hey, look out world 'cause here I come_

_I'm burning brighter than the sun_

_You put up walls but I can break 'em, break 'em_

_Fear is not a roadblock in my way_

_Don't care what the haters say_

_They don't scare me, I'm not shakin', shakin'_

_And if you think I'm gonna quit_

_Go and cross it off your list"_

Once that little chore was finished, he sent me to the kitchen to peel potatoes. Now this, I knew how to do, thanks to Tiana and the others working in the kitchen of the Benbow Inn.

_"I just wanna scream out loud_

_Nothing's gonna stop me now_

_I'm never coming off this cloud_

_So move over, move over, move over_

_You don't wanna mess with me_

_I know who I'm meant to be_

_Never gonna slow me down_

_Nothing's gonna stop me_

_Nothing's gonna stop me now-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow_

_Nothing's gonna stop me now-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow_

_Nothing's gonna stop me now"_

True to his word, Silver never left my side, and tried teaching me how to tie ropes properly. This was one of the skills I had learned on Amelia's ship, so when he was busy with his rope, I tied mine into a knot, and swung out of the look-out's nest, landing on the rail and walking away. Unfortunately, he caught up to me and had me scrub the deck with a small brush instead of using the mop.

_"I'm moving faster than you think_

_You might miss me if you blink_

_Every day I'm getting stronger, stronger_

_But I was born to break the rules_

_So that's just what I'm gonna do"_

On the rare occasions I had to myself, I would sit on the bowsprit and stare out into the horizon, wondering where exactly we were going, and if anyone from Nesidy was out looking for me.

_"I just wanna scream out loud_

_Nothing's gonna stop me now_

_I'm never coming off this cloud_

_So move over, move over, move over_

_You don't wanna mess with me_

_I know who I'm meant to be_

_Never gonna slow me down_

_Nothing's gonna stop me_

_Nothing's gonna stop me now_

_And if you think I'm gonna quit_

_Just go and cross it off your list"_

Once, I had gone down into the dining area to get a mug of cider and sat in a corner, watching Silver tell the crew a story of some sea monster he had encountered years ago. Seeing me, he paused his anecdote to order me to the kitchens to do the dishes.

With a sigh, I did as I was told. After a half hour, I thought I was finished, but then Silver arrived with a huge armful of dishes of every size covered in slime, and leftover food. I glared at him and furiously scrubbed at a pot.

_"Hey, look out world 'cause here I come_

_I'm burning brighter than the sun_

_I just wanna scream out loud_

_(Out loud)_

_Nothing's gonna stop me now_

_(Nothing's gonna stop me now)_

_I'm never coming off this cloud_

_(No, no, no, no)_

_So move over, move over, move over_

_(Just move over)_

_You don't wanna mess with me_

_(Don't wanna mess with me)_

_I know who I meant to be_

_(Oh)_

_Never gonna slow me down_

_(Never gonna slow me down)_

_Nothing's gonna stop me_

_Nothing's gonna stop me now-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow_

_Nothing's gonna stop me now-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow_

_Nothing's gonna stop me now-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow_

_Nothing's gonna stop me now-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow_

_Nothing's gonna stop me now"_

* * *

><p>After a couple of hours, John Silver returned to the kitchens to see how Aralyne was doing. At first he was irritated to see her asleep sitting awkwardly, her head resting on a bowl she had finished cleaning. Looking around, he was impressed to find all of the dishes spotless and shimmering in the moonlight. He felt a bit bad about making her work so much, and took off his coat, throwing it over her shoulders before leaving.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

I woke up to find myself still in the kitchen with the last bowl I cleaned in my lap. Straightening up and stretching, I felt something slide off my shoulders and I looked down at the floor, surprised to see Silver's coat. I picked it up and held it, wondering why he would be so nice to me? Could it be he was changing and didn't want to kill me after all?

Leaving the kitchen, I went and located the Captain.

"Thank you, for lending me your jacket," I said handing it back to him.

With a grunt, he put it back on and growled, "Come with me, I have a job for you."

I followed him to a part of the ship that held the rowboats and helped him lower it into the ocean. He then jumped over the railing into the boat, and rowed off. I stood there, feeling slight disappointment. Is that all he wanted me for? To lower the rowboat?

With a huff, I leaned against the rail and rested my chin in the palm of my hand. For weeks, possibly even an entire month, Silver has kept me so busy, I never gave much thought to the predicament I was in, or how I was going to get out of it. Now I had a chance to think of an escape plan, and to my surprise, I didn't _want_ to! Honestly, I felt a bit bad about admitting this, but I was having _fun_ on this ship! Silver sort of became a second father to me, as strange as that sounded.

"Lynnie!"

I blinked and gazed down to see Silver had returned and was waving for me to join him. With a grin, I leaped over the rail and landed in the boat beside him.

"Where to, Boss?" I asked grabbing the oars.

"A bit that way, Lynnie," he said pointing to his left. I began rowing in that direction and after a half hour of silence, he said, "Stop."

We were sitting out in the middle of the ocean and I didn't see anything special about it.

"What are we doing here?"

"Look," he said gesturing to the water.

I peered over the edge and saw something swimming just below the surface. Suddenly a dolphin jumped out of the water over our boat, and splashed us when it landed back into the ocean. I laughed as a couple more jumped around us, chattering.

One of them winked at me and whispered, "Hi, Aralyne."

The dolphins played around us for a while, and eventually left. Silver and I were soaked from their splashing and we were both laughing. He shook the water off his hat, and pushed back my sopping hair, grabbing the oars once more.

I took us back to the ship, and after climbing back on board, we hauled the longboat up.

"You having a little trouble there?" I said nudging his gut with my elbow.

"Oh, get away from me," he chuckled, "Oh, Lynnie. lf l could maneuver a skiff like that when l was your age... they'd be bowing in the streets when l walked by today." We finished our job and he slumped against the ship's rail.

"Bowing in the streets," Morph repeated mimicking Silver.

"l don't know," I said sitting beside the cyborg, "Everyone in Nesidy either sees me as a hero, or something to be feared. But l'm gonna change all that."

"Are you now? How so?" asked Silver petting Morph.

"Uh, l got some plans. Gonna make people see me a little different," I replied lounging back and staring up at the sky.

"Ooh. Sometimes, plans go astray," said the Captain wisely.

"Not this time," I said with confidence.

Hearing him groan, I looked back down to see him trying to turn a bolt on his cyborg leg. When he couldn't, Morph turned into a wrench. "Oh, thank you, Morphy."

"So, uh, how'd that happen anyway?" I inquired nodding to his robotic parts.

Glancing down at mechanical hand, he said, "You give up a few things chasing a dream."

"Was it worth it?" I asked.

"l'm hoping it is, Lynnie," he said wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pushing his hat low over his eyes, "l most surely am." The boat suddenly rocked, and I banged my head against the side of the ship. "What the devil?"

"A storm a-coming!" someone shouted.

I stood up, rubbing the back of my head, and Silver jumped to his feet, shouting out orders.

"Evasive action, Mr. Turnbuckle!"

"Aye-aye, Captain."

"All hands, fasten your lifelines!"

Everyone ran around the ship doing there jobs. I stared out over the horizon to see storm clouds quickly heading our way, and waves were rocking the ship. Swearing, I ran and grabbed a lifeline, tying it around my waist. Silver was by my side doing the same thing, while still shouting out orders.

"Mr. Scroop, secure those sails!"

The rain began to pour down in sheets, and the wind threw the ship around. My hair flew all over the place, stinging my eyes. Curse the shortness of my curls!

"Secure all sails!"

"Reef them down, men!"

"Yeah, baby! Ba-boom! Ha ha ha ha!"

I ran across the ship, helping the pirates with the sails. When the ship tipped, the Captain slipped and fell over the edge.

"Silver!" I screamed, grabbing his lifeline and hauling him back up onto the ship.

"Thanks, lass," he said in mild surprise patting my shoulder.

We looked out at the storm and saw a whirlpool forming in the water nearby.

"We're being pulled in!" yelled Mr. Turnbuckle, manning the wheel. He lost his grip and slid away.

"No, you don't, you -" shouted Silver racing to the wheel and catching it in time.

While he was doing that, waves began producing from the whirlpool. I studied them, noticing a pattern.

_1... 2... 3... 4..._

I counted up to 47 before another wave hit.

_1... 2... 3... 4..._

Again, 47.

_1... 2... 3... 4..._

47.

"Blast these waves! They're so deucedly erratic!" shouted Silver.

"No, Captain. They're not erratic at all," I said brushing my hair out of my face, "There'll be one more in precisely 40 seconds. Followed by the biggest wave of them all!"

"Of course! Brilliant, Lynnie! We'll ride that last wave out of here," Silver declared.

"All sails secured, Captain!"

"Good man! Now release them immediately!" ordered the cyborg.

Scroop scowled and replied, "Aye, Captain. You heard him, men. Unfurl those sails!"

The crew began to protest, but did it anyways.

"What?!"

"But we just finished..."

"Tying them down!"

"Make up your blooming minds!"

"Lynnie, make sure all lifelines are secured good and tight!" said Silver.

"Aye-aye, Captain," I said running across the ship, checking the lifelines. "Lifelines secured, Captain!"

"Very good!"

I watched the waters sloshing by and finally, the time came. "Captain, the last wave! Here it comes!"

"Hold on to your lifelines, gents! lt's gonna be a bumpy ride!" Silver shouted.

I braced myself against a mast, and shut my eyes, waiting. The wave came out of nowhere and lifted the ship onto its back. With the help of the wind, we managed to race away from the whirlpool and into the safety of a regular rainstorm.

When everyone cheered, I opened my eyes and sighed in relief, then laughed. "Captain!" I said running towards him, "That-oh, my goodness. That was- that was absolutely- that was the most-"

"Actually, Lynnie, your advice was most helpful," he said releasing the wheel, and patting me on the shoulder.

"Well, uh, uh-thank you. Thank you very much," I said grinning.

* * *

><p>The dolphins that had been playing around Aralyne were now swimming throughout Atlantica, chattering eagerly.<p>

"I can't believe we saw her again!"

"I know! The last time she was here, wasn't the greatest, but I'm sure she had fun!"

"If only Aralyne could come back and play with us!"

King Triton had been nearby and heard that last statement, staring after the dolphins. Anger welled up inside him. Aralyne? Here? _She _was the one to blame for Ariel's death and Melody's disappearance!

"Sebastian," he said turning to the crab at his side, "I need you to write _Aralyne_ -" he said the name with contempt " - a little message."

* * *

><p>We had escaped the rain hours ago and were now enjoying the sunset, when I saw a familiar crab scuttle up on deck.<p>

"Sebastian!" I exclaimed in delight kneeling down to talk to him.

"I'm sorry, Aralyne, I can't talk. I only came to deliver this." He held out a wet scroll. Curious, I took it from him and read it.

It was a message from King Triton saying if I came anywhere near Atlantica, he would kill me because he knew I was the one that killed Ariel (sort of, it was actually Siren that did it), and he believed I was behind Melody's disappearance. Disappearance? I didn't even know she was missing! Jim had told me that Mel had gone back to Atlantica!

I looked up to speak to the crab, but found he had left. More friends lost to me all because of that _bitch!_ My throat tightened, and I steeled myself so as not to cry in front of the crew. With a scowl, I crumpled up the note and tossed it aside. Straightening up, I stormed past John Silver.

"What's the matter?" he inquired, but I ignored him and went to sit in the shrouds.

I don't know how long I was there, but eventually the stars glinted above me as I stared down at the ocean waves, twisting a piece of rope in my hands. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Silver lean against the rail below me, smoking a pipe.

"lt weren't your fault, you know?" he said breaking the silence. He had read the note, then.

With an irritated sigh, I threw the rope into the water, and jumped down onto the rail. "Look, don't you get it?!" I snapped at him, "Because of Siren, I will _always_ be seen as a monster! For two seconds, l thought that maybe l could do something right, but- Aagh!" I dropped down onto the deck and walked away. "l just... Just forget it. Forget it." I stopped at one of the masts and leaned against it, fighting the tears that were pooling in my eyes.

"Now, you listen to me, Aralyne Chanson," said the cyborg grasping my shoulder and turning me around to face him, "You got the makings of greatness in ya, but you gotta take the helm and chart your own course. Stick to it, no matter the squalls, and when the time comes you get the chance to really test the cut of your sails, and show what you're made of. Well, l hope l'm there catching some of the light coming off ya that day."

I sniffled and leaned against him, letting the tears fall.

He patted my back and whispered, "There, there. Lass, it's all right, Lynnie. lt's all right." For a brief moment he hugged me, but then cleared his throat and gently pushed me away. "Now, Lyne, l, um... l best be getting about my watch... and you best be getting some shut-eye." I began walking below decks towards the small room I had, but I paused for a moment to smile at him, wiping the tears from my eyes.

* * *

><p>When Aralyne had left, Silver said to his pet, "Getting in too deep here, Morphy. Next thing ya know, they'll be saying l've gone soft." He walked down the ship, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.<p>

Up above him, Mr. Scroop was perched on a rigging, and he had witnessed the entire scene. His eyes narrowed dangerously.

* * *

><p>A farting sound woke me up, and I groaned, rolling over. Unfortunately, I ended up rolling right out of my hammock, and onto the floor. Opening my eyes, I didn't see anything and put on one of my shoes. When I reached for the other, it hopped away behind a trunk.<p>

"Morph?" I said rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I followed him to the trunk and tiredly slumped over it, but he hopped away again. "Morph, knock it off. lt's too early for this." The little bugger suddenly kicked my behind, causing me to slip off the trunk and fall flat on my face. "Ow! Hey, Morph!" I shouted turning around in time to see my "shoe" blow a raspberry at me before transforming into a laughing Morph. He grabbed my real shoe and flew around the room with it. "Hey, come back here!" I said laughing, chasing him around.

"Come back here!" he repeated.

I followed him through the hall and up on deck. Jumping, I grasped my shoe, but the little blob turned into a blowfish and spat water in my face.

"That's it, you little squid," I said trying to grab him, but he kept dodging, turning into a dozen mini me's, repeating what I said.

"You little squid. You little squid. Squid. Squid. Squid. Squid."

He zoomed off and I followed him into the kitchen where he disappeared. After putting on my shoe, I did a quick scan of the room, slowly moving about, keeping a careful eye out for any movement. When I peeked into a barrel of plums, I saw one of them had eyes.

"Ha! Busted!" I exclaimed diving into the barrel, finally grabbing the shapeshifter and tickling him.

That's when I heard voices entering the room.

"Look, what we're saying is we're sick of all this waiting."

"It's only one little girl."

"We are wanting to move."

"We don't move till we got the map in hand." That was Silver! I peered out through a hole in the barrel watching the conversation.

"I say we kill her now!" Scroop declared, and my heart got lodged in my throat. Of course I had forgotten I was on a ship with _murderous_ pirates!

Silver grabbed Scroop's face and shook him in his fist, shouting, "l say what's to say! Disobey my orders and so help me, you'll be swimming from the sharks!" He tossed Scroop and and scorpion bumped into the barrel I was in.

"Strong talk, but l know otherwise," said Scroop getting up and reaching into my hiding place. My heart hammered. Just one move, and he'll be pinching me! I quickly grabbed a plum and stuck it between his pincers. Thankfully it worked, and his claw retracted.

"You got something to say, Scroop?" Silver snarled.

"lt's that girl. Methinks you have a _soft _spot for her," said Scroop pinching the plum, juice squirting out of the fruit.

The crew began to mutter amongst themselves.

Silver snarled out at the pirates, "Now, mark me, the lot of ya. l care about one thing, and one thing only! Flint's trove. You think l'd risk it all for the sake of some nose-wiping little whelp?"

That comment pierced my heart, much like Eric's betrayal had, except this time Danny and Flynn weren't around to save me.

"What was it now? _Oh, you got the makings of greatness in ya_," Scroop mocked, repeating what Silver had told me the previous night.

"Shut your yap!" the cyborg snapped, "l cozied up to that kid to keep her trust. But l ain't gone soft."

"Land ho!" a voice shouted from up on deck.

The pirates cheered and left the room. I sat in the barrel for a moment, blinking back tears. I was a fool! I should have known better than to trust John Silver!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Ha ha ha! There it is! Feast eyes and click heels if you got 'em," exclaimed the look-out pointing out towards an island that was covered in jungle.

Wanting a better look, Silver reached for his spyglass, but it wasn't in his coat pocket. "Where the devil's me glass?"

* * *

><p>I crawled out of the barrel and stood next to a table with a spyglass on it. A part of me wanted to cry, but another part was thinking of a way to get out of here. I raced towards the door, but right as I got there, John Silver stood in my path. I gasped and took a step back.<p>

The pirate seemed just as surprised to see me and said, "Lynnie. Playing games, are we?" He advanced towards me, and I backed up until I bumped into a table.

"Yeah. Yeah, we're playing games," I muttered glaring up at him.

"Oh, l see. Well, l was never much good at games. Always hated to lose," he said putting his robotic arm behind his back. I heard it whir and then click.

I slowly reached behind me for a weapon, and to my luck, I ended up grasping a knife. "Me, too!" I retaliated suddenly stabbing his robotic leg and bolting for the door.

* * *

><p>"Oh, blast it all," Silver growled when Aralyne ran across the ship, not being noticed by his crew. He whistled, grabbing their attention and turning his hand into a sword. "Change in plan, lads! We move now!"<p>

The crew cheered and ran about getting ready.

* * *

><p>I had managed to get a gun one of the idiots had left lying around, and checked my pocket for the map. It was still there, as it had been for the past few weeks. Morph suddenly appeared by my side, and dove into my pocket producing the map in his mouth.<p>

"Morph! Give me that!" I shouted, stowing the gun in the waist band of my pants and running after him. "Morph! No! Morph, here! Morph!" He kept dodging me and swerving out of my grasp.

"Morph!" another voice called out and I saw Silver motioning for the blob. "Morphy, come here." He whistled as if to a dog.

I couldn't let him get the map! Putting on a cheery tone, I called out to shapeshifter, "Morph. Morph, bring it here. Morph, come here."

"Come here. Come here, boy."

Morph looked back and forth between us, confusion etched upon his face.

"Come to your dad."

"Come here, boy. Morph!"

"Come on!"

"Morph! Morph, here!"

"Morphy!"

"Morph!"

The pink blob dove into a coil of rope, and I rushed forward, getting there before Silver did. Keeping my eyes on the pirate, I grabbed a sphere and ran off, not looking back. I didn't have time to get a long boat, not with the pirates now after me. Instead, I climbed up onto the bowsprit, stuffed the sphere into my pocket, and dove headfirst into the water.

When I made it back to the surface, I swam towards shore, hearing gunshots behind me. All around, the ocean was struck with bullets.

From behind me, I heard Silver shout, "Hold your fire! We'll lose the map!"

And with that, the gunshots ceased.

After a while, I was exhausted, but I couldn't stop. The pirates could be upon me at any second. When I reached the island, I stood on the beach heaving, trying to catch my breath, and glanced back to see the pirates were in the rowboats halfway between the ship and the island. I couldn't stand here! With a groan, I forced myself to run deep into the jungle. I only stopped once I was sure I was far enough away from the beach and when my legs couldn't support me anymore.

My knees buckled and I collapsed against a palm tree, falling into a sitting position. Gasping for breath, I pulled the sphere out of my pocket, glad I had managed to get it. It suddenly floated out of my hand and transformed into a laughing pink blob.

"Morph?!" I shouted in bewilderment, and suddenly realized something. "Morph, where's the map?!" He used his abilities to show me the map was hidden in a coil of rope. "Are you _serious?! _lt's back on the _ship?!_" Hearing voices, I grabbed the shapeshifter and got him to be quiet. _We've got company_, I thought bitterly and looked around, _Dammit! We need a more defensible position._

Releasing Morph, I crawled away from the voices and went even deeper into the jungle, the little bugger floating around my head. Once I was sure I could stand, I got up and trekked past the dense trees, looking for a place to hide. Hearing a rattling sound behind me, I froze and slowly turned around, motioning for Morph to keep quiet. I pulled out my gun and cautiously stepped towards a bush

A rusted robot with green eyes suddenly jumped out at me, screaming. I shrieked as it tackled me to the ground, poking and prodding me. My gun had fallen beside me.

"Oh, this is fantastic!" the robot exclaimed in delight, "A carbon-based life form come to rescue me at last! l just want to hug ya and squeeze ya and hold ya close to me."

It allowed me to stand up, but it wouldn't stop embracing me, which made me feel uncomfortable.

"All right. Okay. Would you just let go of me?" I said in irritation.

"Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry," he said pulling away, yet wrapping throwing an arm around my shoulders, "lt's just l've been marooned for so long. l mean, solitude's fun. Don't get me wrong. For heaven's sakes, after a hundred years you _go a little nuts!_" He laughed hysterically. Moving back, he added, "l'm sorry. Am l... l am, um... My name is, uh..." He frowned and put his hands on his head.

Beside me, Morph had turned into the robot with a cuckoo bird coming out of his head. I smirked and motioned for him to stop.

"B.E.N.! Of course, l'm B.E.N. Bio-electronic Navigator," the robot shouted, a chest piece popping out of place. "Oops." He fixed it, then asked me, "And you are?"

"Aralyne," I replied reaching for my gun.

"Oh, what a pleasure to meet you, Carolyn," he said grasping my outstretched hand and shaking it.

"lt's _Ara_lyne," I said in annoyance, shoving him away and finally grabbing my gun.

"Anyway." He leaned against me.

Pulling away from him, I said, "Look, l'm kind of in a hurry, okay? l got to find a place to hide, and there's pirates chasing me."

"Oh, _pirates! _Don't get me started on _pirates!_ l don't like them. l remember Captain Flint. This guy had such a temper."

I rounded on him in surprise. "Wait, wait, wait. You knew Captain Flint?"

B.E.N. sat down and replied, "l think he suffered from mood swings, personally. l'm not a therapist, and anyway... but l-you let me know when l'm rambling."

Rolling my eyes I thought, _You've _been_ rambling_, but instead said, "But that means-but wait. But then you gotta know about the treasure?"

"Treasure?"

"Yeah, Flint's trove? You know, loot of a thousand worlds?" I pressed on.

"lt's-well, it's... it's all a little- little-little fuzzy," he said standing up and beginning to spazz out, "Wait. l-l r-r-remember. l do. l-_treasure!_ Lots of treasure buried in the centroid- centroid—centroid of the mechanism. And there was this big door opening and closing... and opening and closing... and Captain Flint wanted to make sure... nobody could ever get to his treasure... so l helped him... Aah! Data inaccessible! Reboot!" Electricity began flying about his head and for a moment I thought he was going to break.

"B.E.N.? B.E.N.? B.E.N.!" I called out, slapping him.

He stopped and gazed at me in confusion, "Reboot! Aah! And you are?"

"Wait, wait, wait! What about the treasure?" I exclaimed trying to get back on topic.

"l want to say Mary," B.E.N. said.

"The-the centroid of the mechanism, or-" I repeated to him.

"l'm sorry. My memory isn't what it used to be. l've lost my mind. Ha ha! l've _lost _my mind." He said searching my clothes, "You haven't found it, have you?" he asked turning to show me a hole in his head with wires poking out. "Uh, my missing piece? My primary memory circuit?"

"Look, B.E.N., l really need to find a place to hide, okay? So l'm just gonna be, you know, moving on," I said walking away.

"Oh, uh, so, well, then... l guess, uh... this is good-bye, huh?" he said sadly, "l'm sorry that l'm so dysfunctional. So, uh, go ahead and... l do understand. l do. Bye-bye."

I stopped and gazed back at him. He seemed to dejected and I sighed in annoyance, "Look, if you're gonna come along, you're gonna have to stop talking."

B.E.N. jumped for joy. "Huzzah! Ha ha ha! Oh, this is fantastic!" Running to me, he jumped into my arms and I gave him a murderous look. "Me and my best buddy are lookin' for a..." He cleared his throat and added while hugging me, "Being quiet."

"And you have to stop _touching _me."

"Touching and talking. That's my two big no-nos," said B.E.N. jumping out of my arms.

"OK. Now, l think that we should-"

Grabbing my arm, the robot said, "Say, listen, before we go out on our big search, um, would you mind if we made a quick pit stop at my place? Kind of urgent." He pushed aside some foliage to show me a strange looking moss-covered cave on a hill.

"B.E.N., I think you just solved my problem," I said grinning at the cave.

He led me to his home and we stepped inside to find the inside slightly damp and covered in moss. There were even strange symbols carved on the wall.

"Uh, pardon the mess. You'd think in a hundred years l would've dusted a little more often... but, you know, when you're batchin' it you tend to, uh, let things go."

I moved towards one of the walls and studied it a bit, recognizing the symbols. "Look at these markings. They're identical to the ones on the map. l suspect these are the hieroglyphic remnants of an ancient culture."

"Hey. look! There's some of your buddies! Hey, fellas! We're over here, fellas!" B.E.N. shouted standing at the cave's entrance.

Several gunshots were fired, and I grabbed B.E.N. yanking him out of sight. I shot my own gun at the pirates, and missed. Great. I was skilled with archery and other weapons, but not a gun. Fuck my life.

"Stop wastin' your fire!" John Silver shouted and the pirates stopped. The Captain held a white flag and I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. "Hello. up there! Lynnie? lf it's all right, l'd like a short word with ya. No tricks, just a little palaver."

"Come to bargain for the map, doubtless," I muttered, "Pestilential... That means that _he _thinks I still have it."

Stowing my gun back in the waistband of my pants, I left the cave and walked towards him with Morph at my side.

"Ah, Morphy! l wondered where you lit off to," said Silver sitting down and rubbing his robotic leg, "Oh, this poor old leg's downright snarky since that game of tag we had in the galley." I glared at him as he chuckled. "Whatever you heard back there, at least the part concerning you, l didn't mean a word of it. Had that bloodthirsty lot had thought l'd gone soft, they'd have gutted us both. Now listen to me. lf we play our cards right, we can both walk away from this rich as kings."

"Yeah?" I said feigning interest as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"You get me that map and, uh, an even portion of the treasure is yours." He held his robotic arm out for me to shake.

"Boy," I said shaking my head, "You are really _something_. All that talk of _greatness_, light coming off my sails? What a _joke_."

"Now, just see here, Lynnie -" he began to stutter, but I cut him off.

"l mean, at least you taught me one thing. Stick to it, right? Well, that's just what l'm gonna do. l'm gonna make sure that you never see one _drabloon _of _my _treasure!" I snapped at him.

"That treasure is owed me, by thunder!" he yelled frowning at me.

"Well, try to find it without _my _map, by thunder!" I mocked his accent.

His eyes narrowed and he growled out, "Oh, you still don't know how to pick your fights, do you, lass? Now, mark me. Either l get that map by dawn tomorrow, or so help me, _l'll use the ship's cannons to blast ya to kingdom come! _Morph, hop to it." When the shapeshifter didn't follow him, Silver yelled, "_Now!_" and Morph hid behind me in fear. "Oh, blast it!" Silver hobbled away and I returned to the cave.

"Without the map, we're dead," I muttered pacing the floor, "lf we try to leave, we're dead. lf we stay here –"

"We're dead! We're dead! We're dead! We're dead!" Morph shouted happily.

"Well, l think that Lynnie could use a little _quiet time_," said B.E.N., "Heh. So l'll just slip out the back door."

"Back door?" I repeated turning to him.

"Oh, yeah," said the robot opening a door on the floor that was covered in moss. I thought it was a giant boulder! "l get this delightful breeze through here which l think is important, because ventilation among friends-"

I ran over and peered down to see machinery and metal walkways. "Whoa. What is all this stuff?"

"You mean the miles and miles of machinery that run through the entire course of the inside of this island? Not a clue!"

Machinery inside an island? But there was _sand_ on the beach and _plants_ growing to form a jungle!

_Uh, duh! Aralyne, you're in _Incantationen! _It's probably magic, you idiot! Anything can happen here!_

I jumped through the door, landing on a walkway, and B.E.N. followed.

_(If you choose not to read my story, that is absolutely fine. I write what I want, NOT what other people want. Have a nice day!)_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

I pushed open another door disguised as a boulder and peered out to find B.E.N., Morph, and I were near where the pirates were making camp on the beach. In fact, the lot of them were already asleep and snoring.

"So, what's the plan?" the robot shouted, practically giving me a heart attack.

"Shh. B.E.N., quiet," I whispered clamping his mouth shut, "Okay, here it is. We sneak back to the _Legacy_, disable the cannons, and bring back the map."

"That's a good plan. l like that plan," said B.E.N. mumbling between my fingers, "The only thing is l'm wondering, how do we get there?"

"On that," I replied pointing to the rowboat.

We quickly and silently snuck over to the boat and climbed aboard. I grabbed the oars, and rowed out towards the ship. After what felt like hours, but must have really been a few minutes, we made it to the _Legacy_ and clambered up over the rail onto the deck. Unfortunately, B.E.N. fell flat on his face with a loud _clatter!_

"_Shh!_" I hissed in a panic, quickly looking around to see if anyone was coming. The coast was clear.

"Sorry. Sorry. Sorry."

"Okay, l'll get the map. You wait here," I whispered to the robot.

"Roger, Lynnie. l'll neutralize laser cannons, ma'am!" B.E.N. declared with a salute before walking off.

"B.E.N.! B.E.N.!" I called out to him, but he ignored me and kept on going while singing _A Pirate's Life for Me._

"Great," I huffed shaking my head. I turned and headed across the deck towards the coil of rope Morph had hidden the map.

* * *

><p>"Disable a few cannons," said B.E.N. strolling past a room with the door wide open, "What is the big deal?" He paused and peeked into the room. His curiosity got the better of him and he stepped inside, looking about the place. Opening up a box on the wall, he found a plethora of different coloured wires and stared fascinated. He wondered what would happen if he just messed with a couple...<p>

* * *

><p>I managed to get to the coil of rope and pushed a portion aside to find the map. "Yes," I sighed in relief picking it up.<p>

Suddenly an alarm started blaring, making me jump, my heart hammering in my chest. I turned and ran, looking for B.E.N.

"That stupid robot's gonna get us ...killed," I said and came to a halt when Scroop stood in my path.

"Aralyne," he hissed flashing his claws in my face.

I dashed below decks throwing things behind me to trip him up, but I'm not so sure it worked because I could still hear him scuttling behind me. I glanced back for a moment to see him a foot away, but then Morph turned into a pie and slammed into the scorpion's face. I then heard Morph being tossed aside, and I kept running. Rounding a corner, I stopped and pulled out my gun. Jumping out from my hiding place, I was ready to shoot. Scroop froze and the lights suddenly went out.

_Dammit, B.E.N.!_

Some red lights turned on instead and Scroop was gone. I panicked, turning around. _He could be anywhere!_

Morph screamed, and I heard a shout behind me. Swiveling around once more, I found Scroop towering over me, and he smacked me. I fell over on my back with a grunt, losing hold of my gun. Scroop jumped on top of me, and I used my hands to keep his pincers at bay.

Without warning, we started floating in the air. _What is this?!_ Taking advantage of this, I kicked Scroop away, and he soared right through the ceiling and began floating away. Unfortunately, I did, too. Scroop grabbed a rope on the mast and held himself down, while I floated past him. He tried stabbing me with his claw, but missed. As I was going by the pirate flag, I grasped it, and held on for dear life. Below me, Scroop started climbing towards me, an evil sneer on his face. My gun floated by and I tried reaching for it.

"Come on, come on, come on," I muttered, but it slipped away from me, "No!"

"Oh, yes," Scroop snickered coming to a halt. With his claw, he began sawing the rope holding the flag in place, "Do say hello to Tulio."

_Who? _Pushing that thought aside, I quickly climbed down the flag and grabbed onto the mast. Scroop snarled, saliva dripping from his mouth, and lunged for me. When he was close enough, I managed to jump over him, and kick him so that he lost his hold of the mast and floated away into space. By some miracle I had latched onto the mast again, and held on tight. All of a sudden, I fell into the lookout's nest, glad that I had gravity back.

Scroop tumbled from the sky at an alarming rate, screaming and he finally landed back on the ship with a sickening _crunch_, almost like when I step on a roach. That was soon followed by several loud splashes.

A little pink blob arrived from a pipe covered in soot and coughing.

"Morph?" I panted.

"Cannons thrown overboard, Captain Lynnie, ma'am!" I gazed down on deck to see B.E.N. had returned and was covered in different wires. I didn't want to know what he had been up to, but I was 100% sure he's the reason everything went wonky while I was battling Scroop. "Gee, that wasn't so tough."

Using a rope, I slid down the mast and landed on the deck beside the robot. Pulling the sphere out of my pocket, I grinned at him and said, "l got the map!"

"Fine work, Lynnie," said Captain Silver stepping out of the shadows and taking the map from me, "Fine work indeed. Thanks for showing us the way, lass."

The rest of the pirate crew came forward sneering at me. I was surrounded and without a weapon. In no time at all, I was held captive by two pirates. Morph was frightened and dove into my pocket.

"What's this sorry stack of metal?!" one pirate jeered grabbing B.E.N. and sticking a knife below his chin.

"Not the face!" the robot yelled.

"You're just like me, Lynnie. Ya hates to lose," Silver smirked and tried opening the map. It remained motionless. "What the devil's the..." Becoming aggravated, he shoved it into my chest. "Open it." The pirates released me, and I held the map, glaring at the cyborg I had once thought of as a friend. When I didn't move, he turned his robotic arm into a gun and pointed it at B.E.N. "l'd get busy."

As much as I found B.E.N. annoying, I didn't want him dead, and I sure as hell didn't want to be held responsible for destroying another being's life. Still giving the pirate the Death stare, I poked at the symbols, twisted the top and sides, until it popped open and billions of green lights created the shape of the island we were visiting - _Treasure Island!_

"Oh, the powers that be. Would you look?" Silver said in excitement. The lights then formed a path, leading back to the island and penetrating deep into the jungle.

"Tie her up and leave her here till we-what?"

Upon hearing his decision, I closed the map, cutting off the path, and he rounded on me.

"You want the map? You're taking me, too," I declared.

He smirked at me and said, "We'll take 'em both."

B.E.N. and I were thrown off the ship into a rowboat with Silver and several members of his crew. When we had arrived back on the island, I opened up the map once more, and the path of green light recreated itself. For hours, we trekked through the jungle following the lights, the pirates pointing guns at my back.

Morph trembled and whimpered in my pocket. "lt's okay, Morph. lt's okay," I said soothingly, patting his head.

"Lyne, l-l don't know about you, but l'm starting to see my life _pass _in front of my eyes," B.E.N. said dramatically, "At least, l think it's my life. _Was l ever dancing with an android named Lupe?!_"

"B.E.N., shh," I whispered, trying to calm him down, "This isn't over yet."

"We're gettin' close, lads! l smell treasure a-waitin'!" Silver exclaimed when the green lights got brighter. He grabbed my shirt and dragged me forward, cutting a path through some foliage.

We all came to a halt and stared at... _nothing_. We were standing at the edge of a cliff and the green lights stopped right there.

The pirates spoke at once.

"Where is it?"

"l see nothing! One great, big stinking hunk of nothing!"

"What's going on, Lynnie?" the Captain snapped when the lights vanished and the map shut on its own.

"l don't know," I said honestly confused pushing the symbols and trying to twist the sphere, "l can't get it open."

"We should've never followed this girl!" a pirate yelled, shoving me forward.

I fell on my hands and knees and found myself staring at an indention in the ground the exact size and shape of the map.

"I'd suggest you get that gizmo going again and fast!" Silver snarled.

"Let's rip her gizzard right out right now!"

"Throw her off the cliff!"

They began advancing towards me, and if I didn't do something fast, they were going to kill me! I jammed the map into the indention, and suddenly the whole island glowed green. Everyone got quiet. Lights sprang from the ground and created a small universe hovering at my chest level. I bright golden-green light then sprang from that and created a portal door.

"Oh, have mercy," Silver said in astonishment.

"The Lagoon Nebula?" I gasped. I was so glad I had decided to do research on the different places in Incantationen.

"But that's halfway across the world," replied Silver.

"A big door opening and closing," I muttered remembering what B.E.N. had told me. Glancing back down at the green universe, I studied it a bit more. "Let's see. Incantationen... Planet Earth." I poked at that one, and the portal door closed, then opened to reveal the Great Wall of China. I gaped at it and poked at Earth again so that the portal opened up to a jungle in South America. "So that's how Flint did it. He used this _portal _to roam the worlds stealing treasure."

"But where'd he _stash _it all?" Silver demanded shoving me out of the way and poking at random places on the map, "Where's that blasted treasure?!" The portal door kept opening and closing, showing me views of different worlds.

"Treasure!" repeated B.E.N. grasping his head, trying to think, "Treasure! lt's buried in the-"

"Buried in the centroid of the mechanism," I finished for him, "What if the whole island _is _the mechanism, and the treasure is buried in the center of this island?"

The pirates exchanged looks and tried diggin, but their shovels, and picks didn't make a single mark on the cliff.

"And how in blue blazes are we supposed to get there?" Silver demanded still poking random places on the map.

"Just open the right door," I said nudging him aside to poke at Treasure Island. The portal closed and opened one last time to reveal stalactites made of metal hanging from the ceiling of some sort of cavern. I cautiously stepped through the portal, but then John Silver shoved me back so he could be first. The pirates and I followed and stared in awe at the sea of treasure before us.

"The loot of a thousand worlds," Silver whispered as he crew went to jump in the treasure.

"We are going to need a bigger boat!" one of the pirates exclaimed.

As amazing as all this was, I didn't see a single thing that could help me defeat Siren. It was literally just _treasure!_ Gold coins, jewels, crowns, scepters, baubles. _Great! Now what?!_ Looking about, I saw an abandoned ship in a far off corner.

"This is all seeming very familiar. I can't remember why," said B.E.N. rubbing the top of his head.

Now that the pirates were no longer paying me any attention, I nudged the robot and said, "B.E.N., come on. We're getting out of here." I led him towards the ship.

"But-but, Lynnie! Lynnie! Do you know what's strange? l can't tell you how frustrating this is, Lynnie, 'cause there's something just, it's _nagging _at the back of my mind." I climbed onto the ship and helped B.E.N. up as well. He suddenly screamed at something behind me and fell to the ground.

Swiveling around I saw a skeleton in pirate's garb sitting on a throne of treasure. "Captain Flint?"

"ln the flesh!" said the robot climbing to his feet, "Well, s-sort of, except for skin, organs, or anything that-that-that resembles flesh that's not there. And yet it's so odd, you know? I mean, I remember there was something _horrible _Flint didn't want anyone else to know, but I-I just can't remember what it was. Oh, a mind is a terrible thing to lose!"

Studying the skeleton, I noticed it held something metallic in its grip. Shuddering at the idea of what I was about to do, I broke the bony fingers holding the metal and held it up close.

"B.E.N., l think l just found your mind," I said turning to the robot and grabbing him, "Hold still."

"Aah! Lynnie, your hands are very, very cold." The piece went right into place and B.E.N. froze before turning to me, his eyes going from green to blue. "Whoa! Hello. You know, uh, Lynnie, l was just thinking - l was just _think_- _lt's all flooding back! All my memories! Right up until Flint pulled my memory circuits so l could never tell anybody about his booby trap!_"There was suddenly a large explosion above our heads, making us cringe. "Speaking of which..." We looked up to see the mechanical stalactites exploding one by one. "Flint wanted to make sure that nobody could ever steal his treasure, so he rigged this whole planet to blow _higher than a Kalepsian kite!_"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Everything was chaos as the metallic stalactites blew up and fell to ground engulfed in fire. Chasms began to open up, causing the treasure to fall into the abyss. The pirates were screaming and running for their lives.

"Run, Lynnie! Run for your life!" B.E.N. exclaimed shaking my arm.

"You go back! lf l'm not there in five minutes, leave without me," I said running to a machine I had seen nearby. I crawled under it and began messing with some wires. _So_ glad my dad taught me how to hot wire a car!

"l am not leaving my buddy Lynnie," said B.E.N. grabbing my legs and pulling me back out. I gave him the Death glare to let him know I was being serious. "Unless she looks at me like that. Bye, Lyne!" He released me and took off running.

* * *

><p>Silver watched in horror as his treasure spilled into the chasms. "No! No! Oh, no! Oh, no!" No matter how hard he tried keeping everything from falling, it all slipped between his fingers. Some of his crew fell into the firey abyss, while others took off running. "Come back here, ya blighters!"<p>

Noticing movement on a nearby ship, he used his cyborg eye to zoom in and saw Aralyne working furiously."

* * *

><p>The ship was mechanical and could fly, and I had managed to get it working again. "Yes!" I exclaimed grasping the wheel, the little pink blob floating by my head, "Morph, we are so out of here!"<p>

"Ah. Lynnie! Aren't you the seventh wonder of the universe?"

I spun around to see John Silver had climbed aboard and was walking towards me. Picking up the sword at my side, I pointed it at his thick gut.

"Get back!" I warned.

"l like you, lass, but l've come too far to let you stand between me and me treasure," he said ominously stalking closer.

Great. He was after the money on my ship. Couldn't I get a break?!

One of the stalactites fell from the ceiling and split my ship in half. The force of the impact, caused me to fly through the air and I lost my sword. I slid into a chasm, holding on to a ledge of the metallic wall, but my fingers were slipping.

"Lynnie. Reach for me now!" I turned my head to see Silver leaning over a ledge, his arm outstretched to me, while he robotic hand held onto the ship full of treasure. "Reach!"

"l-l can't!" I stammered my hand a foot short of his. I couldn't hold on much longer!

"l - Oh, blast me for a fool!" Silver cried.

And to my surprise, he released the ship and leaned over the edge to grab me right as I lost my grip and fell. His hand held onto my wrist and for a heart stopping moment, I stared down at the fiery abyss below me. He swung me up onto the ledge, and together, the two of us jumped to our feet and took off running through the portal out of the cavern.

"Silver, you gave up?"

"Just a lifelong obsession, Lyne. l'll get over it," he said waving away my question.

"Aloha, Lynnie!"

We glanced up to see B.E.N. had somehow found another mechanical ship that could fly and he had it positioned right above us.

"Hurry, people! We got exactly two minutes and thirty-four seconds till island's destruction!" B.E.N. shouted out. He threw out a rope ladder, and Silver and I quickly climbed aboard.

"Take us out of here, metal man!" I exclaimed.

The robot saluted and began steering the ship. All around us, the island began to explode and chasms opened. Bits of foliage were blown into the air, and a tree ended up breaking our main mast. The mast then crushed a part of the ship that was helping us fly at such a great speed. We began slowing down.

"Missile tail demobilized!" said B.E.N. with worry, "Thrusters at only 30% of capacity."

"30%?" I repeated, quickly doing the calculations in my head, "That means we're- We'll never clear the island's explosion in time." I leaned over the side of the ship and stared at the portal falling further behind us. "We gotta turn around."

"What?" said Silver gaping at me in disbelief.

I grabbed what was left of the missile tail, which was still emitting sparks.

"The portal back there. lt can get us out of here!" I quickly explained.

"Pardon me, Lyne, but didn't that portal open onto a _raging inferno?!_" B.E.N. shouted.

"Yes, but l'm gonna change that. I'm gonna open a different door," I said grabbing a piece of metal about the size and shape of a skateboard.

"Lynnie, really, l don't see how this could possibly-" said the robot.

"Listen to the lass!" Silver snapped.

"One minute, twenty-nine seconds till island's destruction!" B.E.N. warned.

"What do you need, Lyne?" Silver asked kneeling beside me as I tried to work under this pressure.

"Just some way to attach this," I said motioning towards the missile tail and other piece of metal.

"All right. Stand back. Stand back, now," said the pirate using his robotic arm to weld the two pieces together, "There you go."

"There you go," Morph repeated.

"Okay. Now, no matter what happens, keep the ship heading straight for that portal," I commanded.

"Fifty-eight seconds!" yelled B.E.N.

I clicked a lever with the heel of my shoe and my homemade hoverboard burst to life. As I flew ahead of the ship towards the giant door, I heard Silver yell, "Well, you heard her! Get this blasted heap turned 'round! Head us back to the portal!"

Honestly, the whole thing would have been amazing if it weren't for the fact I was racing against the clock to save our lives! As pieces of the island were thrown about, I dodged on my hoverboard, missing death multiple times by inches.

_Twenty-five seconds!_

My missile tail suddenly guttered out of fuel and I couldn't click it back on. "No! No!" I screamed, my heart pounding as I began to lose altitude, falling into a chasm.

_Seventeen seconds!_

I glanced up at the metallic walls rising around me and shifted my hoverboard so that the missile tail scraped against it, creating a multitude of sparks. It caught on fire, and I shot up out of the chasm right as the ship flew over head.

_Seven, six, five, four, three... _I passed the ship and got to the map, pointing at Nesidy. _Two..._

The portal closed, then opened and we passed through so that we were out in the ocean, several miles away from Nesidy's port. There was a huge explosion behind the ship, the portal collapsed, the map being destroyed over on _Treasure Island._

Debris flew about us, landing in the water, and I cheered. _We made it!_

"You done it, Lynnie!" shouted Silver, as I flew the hoverboard by him to give him a high-five, "You done it, lass! Didn't l say the lass had greatness in her?"

I landed on the ship and clicked off my hoverboard, jumping to the deck.

"Unorthodox, but ludicrously effective," I proudly said to myself placing hands on hips and grinning.

"Lynnie," said B.E.N. coming up to me, "that was _unforgettable!_ l know you don't like touching but get ready for a hug, 'cause l gotta hug ya!" He threw his arms around me, and I embraced him. "Hey, you hugged me back. Oh, l promised myself l wouldn't cry. Does anyone have a tissue?"

Looking up from the sobbing robot, I was surprised to see Silver had gone to the other side of the deck and was quickly untying a longboat. I pulled away from the robot and followed the cyborg.

"Morphy, we gotta make tracks."

"l know," Morph replied.

"You never quit, do you?" I asked, surprising him.

"Ah, Lynnie!" he chuckled nervously, "l was merely checking to make sure the longboat was safe and secure."

"Mmm. Well, _that _should hold it," I said properly tying the rope, he was fumbling with.

Leaning in towards me, he whispered, "lf you don't mind, we'd just as soon avoid prison. Little Morphy here, he's a free spirit. Being in a cage, it'd break his heart." I gave him a small smile and untied the rope to the longboat, lowering it down into the water. He grinned. "What say you ship out with us, lass? You and me, Chanson and Silver, full of ourselves and no ties to anyone!"

I thought about it with a half smile, but shook my head. "You know, a week ago, l would've taken you up on that offer in a second but, uh, l met this old cyborg and he taught me that l could chart my own course. That's what l'm gonna do."

"And what do you see off that bow of yours?" he asked.

"A future," I replied, "_without_ Siren."

Silver chuckled. "Look at ya, glowing like a solar fire. You're something special, Lyne. You're gonna rattle the stars, you are." He teared up, as did I, and I gave him a hug. After a moment of embracing me, he cleared his throat and pulled away. "Got a bit of grease in this cyborg eye of mine."

Morph began sobbing and literally dissolved into a puddle of tears, which I caught in my hands. "Oh, hey, Morph. l'll see ya around, okay?" I said to the shapeshifter.

"See ya around," he said regaining his blobby form.

When he had returned to Silver's side, the pirate gazed at me then said, "Morphy, l got a job for ya. l need you to keep an eye on this here pup. Will ya do me that little favor?"

"Aye-aye, Captain," said Morph nuzzling Silver before returning to my side.

Silver jumped into the longboat and began rowing away.

"Stay out of trouble, ya old scalawag," I called out to him, waving.

With a laugh, he said, "Why, Lynnie, lass, when have l ever done otherwise?"

I watched him go until I could no longer see him on the horizon. With a sigh, I turned to my last two companions. "Well that was fun."

"Yes it was, Lynnie!" B.E.N. exclaimed, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, "Let's do it again!"

"Let's not, and say we did," I replied, removing his arm.

"Aralyne? Aralyne!" a voice shouted from the sky.

I glanced up, shielding the sunlight with my hand to see Danny Phantom flying towards us.

"Danny!" I shouted grinning and waving towards him.

He came at me way too fast, and collided into me, his arms wrapping around me. "Aralyne, you're okay!"

"Whoa! Hey! Dan- Danny!" I laughed as he nearly knocked me over, "Of course I'm okay! You know me! Can't keep the savior down!"

He pulled away and studied me, noting the scar on my left cheek. "What happened there?"

"Just a scratch," I said with a shrug, "Nothing to worry about. So what did I miss?"

"How can you be so _calm?!_ You've been missing for a month, again! I found the dead body on the beach and signs of a struggle! What _happened?!_"

"Oh, this and that," I replied waving away his inquiries, "Can you take us back to Nesidy, Danny? I'm rather tired and would like to get some sleep."

The ghost boy finally looked over at B.E.N. who was waving eagerly and Morph hovering by my shoulder. The pink blob dove into my pocket right as Danny grasped my hand, and B.E.N.'s and he flew us off the ship, all the way back to the Benbow Inn. Below us, everyone in Nesidy noticed and waved, shouting out _hello's_, and _she's returned!_

Once he dropped us off at the front door, he opened his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it.

"Later, Danny. I promise." I opened the door and stepped into the inn, motioning for B.E.N. to follow. He did, and after saying a quick hello to Mrs. Hawkins, I introduced her to the robot, and he asked for a job right on the spot. Morph had come out of my pocket and took a shining to Jim right away. With the lot of them distracted, I snuck upstairs to my room, where I immediately collapsed onto my bed. The second my head hit the pillow, I was out.

* * *

><p>Siren dropped the now useless trident onto the floor. She didn't know how, but she had ended up absorbing the magic powers from the object. The villainess had first discovered this when the trident stopped working, but magic shot out of her hands instead.<p>

Thanks to her spies in the ocean, she had discovered what had happened to Aralyne. The goody-goody had been kidnapped by John Silver, and instead of killing her like he was supposed to, he kept her alive to locate some _stupid_ treasure! And to make matters worse, he had gone _soft_, treating Aralyne like a friend or daughter, even! He left her _alive!_

Siren waved her hand before her, and John Silver suddenly appeared looking surprised and then wary when he saw her. He even noticed the scar on her left cheek _exactly _where Aralyne had hers.

"Siren, lass! Why, aren't you as bonny as -"

"_Shut it_," she snarled her scarlet eyes flashing dangerously, "You have betrayed me, Silver, and you know full well what happens to those that are against me."

Before he could say a word, she waved her hand once more, and a large part of the ceiling fell, crushing the cyborg. His robotic eye had popped out of its socket and now wizzed around in a circle on the floor.

"_No one_ betrays me. Now let's see who's next in bringing me Aralyne's head."

* * *

><p>Grandpa had gotten the news that Aralyne had returned and rushed to the Benbow Inn. Nesidy was lucky that nothing happened while she was missing! Upon arriving at his destination, Mrs. Hawkins quickly explained that Aralyne was asleep and instead introduced him the the robot, B.E.N.<p>

"Another one of Lynnie's friends!" he exclaimed, shaking Grandpa's hand, "You wouldn't _believe_ the adventure on Treasure Island! It - She was _incredible!_"

_Treasure Island? So that's where she had gone!_

"Tell me everything, B.E.N.," said Grandpa taking a seat to hear the story.

The robot eagerly went into detail, starting with seeing Aralyne wander around the jungle, and ending with seeing John Silver row away on the longboat.

"That is indeed an incredible story," said Lao Shi, his eyes roving up towards the ceiling.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

_(Song in this chapter is "Secret" - with a couple of alterations - by The Pierces.)_

I had a terrible nightmare that John Silver had died - murdered by Siren. For a moment I wondered what it had been like for him to see me - _not me_ - glaring at him with soulless eyes before magically crushing him with a part of the ceiling. My heart went out to him, my pirate frenemy. It was just a dream, after all, and I shook my head.

"Aralyne?"

I opened my eyes to see Fenton sitting in a chair beside my bed. "Danny." I smiled sleepily at him. He was watching me intently as if waiting for some reaction. Noticing bags under his eyes, I sat up, my brown furrowing with worry. "Danny, are you okay?" He also looked a little pale.

"I've just been worried about you," he replied, "You were kidnapped for about the billionth time and had been missing for a month. I thought Siren had gotten hold of you, or that you had remembered..." His voice trailed off and it looked like it physically pained him to not say what he wanted to.

"Remembered what?" I pressed, but he shook his head.

"Nothing."

Moving closer towards him, I placed a hand on his forehead. Heat radiated into my palm. "You have a fever! Are you _sure_ you're okay? Maybe you should go home and have Sam bring you some herbal tea?"

"No, no. I'm fine," he insisted pushing my hand off him, "I just came to see how you were doing."

"Okay, I guess," I replied with a shrug, "I don't know what I'm going to do about Siren, though."

"You'll figure something out," said Danny.

"Yes, it shouldn't be too difficult," I agreed, "as I did manage to expel her on my own at one point."

"On... your own?" Danny repeated tilting his head, looking confused.

"Yes, don't you remember when I struggled to keep her under control for such a long time? And it was right after I..." My gaze drifted down to his chest and I cringed, recalling that horrible moment when I had nearly killed my best friend. "But of course, you weren't' conscious, so don't remember. Grandpa had banished me until I was able to get my heart back and rid myself of Siren. I was completely alone for a few days with _her_ until I got my heart back from the Queen of Hearts."

"I see," he said looking as if he were in pain again. He suddenly shot to his feet and said, "I have to go, now. 'Bye, Aralyne!" And he left my room.

I stared at his retreating form, having a nagging feeling that there was something he wasn't telling me. _I'm going to have to see Sam later and find out what's bothering him._ Crawling out of bed, I skipped over to my closet to find it completely empty. Where were all of my clothes? They _should_ be here! I had to change! Even though I washed my outfit every other day while living with the pirates, I never got a chance to wear something new. With a sigh, I left my room and went downstairs to find Mrs. Hawkins and her son serving breakfast to customers.

"I'm sorry for bothering you, Mrs. Hawkins," I said as she gave a platter of pancakes to the _Recess_ gang, "But none of my clothes are up in my room."

"LYNNIE!" B.E.N. appeared out of nowhere and threw an arm around my shoulders. "How are ya this morning?! I got ya breakfast!" he suddenly shoved a plate of eggs and bacon in my hands, as well as a cup of black coffee.

"Thank you, B.E.N.," I said setting the plate and mug down on a vacant table nearby, "I'll eat in a moment."

"Take all the time you need, Lynnie! I'm hear for you! And thanks for bringing me here! I can't tell ya how much this -"

"B.E.N.," I said cutting him off mid-sentence and removing his arm from my shoulders, "Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"Yes, you're right! See you later, Lyne!" The robot scurried away to help the Hawkins' serve food to waiting customers.

"Mrs. Hawkins?" I said to grab her attention.

She avoided looking at me as she said, "I had Rapunzel go out and wash your clothes. Go back up and have yourself a bath, and I'll have them sent right up."

"Thank you," I slowly said eyeing her suspiciously. Mrs. Hawkins wasn't the best liar in the world. She, too, was keeping something from me.

Grabbing my breakfast, I took it up stairs and put it on the vanity table before heading over to the bathroom attached to my room.

* * *

><p>As soon as Aralyne was gone, Sarah Hawkins turned to her son and said, "Jim, go over to Tulio's and get all of Aralyne's things."<p>

The teenager nodded, and left the inn, returning about twenty minutes later with a bag that looked like it was ready to burst at the seems.

"Quick! Take it upstairs to her room!" said Mrs. Hawkins, and Jim sprinted up to the second floor where he left the bag on Aralyne's bed and left before she could emerge from the bathroom.

* * *

><p>When I had finished with my hot bath, I reentered my bedroom with a towel wrapped around my body, and my hair dripping wet. On my bed was a bag and when I opened it, I found my clothes inside looking as if they had been hastily thrown in there.<p>

_Okay, so Mrs. Hawkins _was_ lying! Rapunzel would have taken care to put everything exactly where they belong, or at the very least spread out nicely on my bed._ With my suspicion growing, I put on a dress fashioned after Esmeralda's, toweled my hair dry, and brushed out the tangles before eating my breakfast, and taking the dirty dishes downstairs into the kitchen.

"Hello, everyone," I said to my fellow co-workers and they all looked at me with mild surprise.

"Aralyne," said Rapunzel, her hair still short and brown. I actually preferred it this way because we used to constantly trip over her loooooong golden tresses. "You're back! We had been told you were kidnapped, again."

"I'm fine," I said waving away her concern putting the dishes in the sink.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" Tiana asked scrutinizing me with worry.

"Really, I'm _fine_," I insisted, noticing everyone kept staring at me as if I might suddenly break, "All of you are acting like someone died, or something."

"Well we thought you might upset because Tu-" Linguini began, but Colette elbowed him in the gut, and he hunched over gasping. I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Because too many weeks have gone by since you were kidnapped, and we wanted to make sure it didn't affect your work," Remy put in.

"I see," I said slowly, looking at the lot of them. _They _were keeping something from me as well. "Okay, _what _is going on?"

"What do you mean?" inquired Colette.

"I _mean_ everyone's been acting strange and _lying_ to me! _What is going on?!_"

"Nothing," said Rapunzel placing a hand on my arm, "We're just worried about you, that's all. What with Siren running around." The others nodded their agreement.

"You know what," I replied coldly, "I'm _not_ fit to work today." And with that, I stormed out of the kitchen, bypassing Sarah and Jim, and leaving the inn.

Once I was outside, I realized I didn't really know what to do or where to go. Everyone that walked by kept shooting me strange glances just like last time, and I finally wondered if they were _all_ keeping the exact same secret. As of right now, I couldn't trust any of them, and had no one to confide in. Even Danny, my _best friend_, was keeping something from me!

Angry, I ran off down the streets, ignoring everyone that called out to me.

* * *

><p>With her new-found powers, Siren decided to keep a little eye on Aralyne, and all around her through a crystal ball. Just like her counterpart, she had noticed everyone acting strangely and keeping some sort of secret from her. Intrigued, she focused the crystal ball on Danny. He was in his bedroom talking to Sam, and he did look a bit sick.<p>

"I feel terrible keeping this from her," he said hanging his head, "And if she ever finds out about this, she'll _hate _me!"

"She'll never find out, and she sure won't remember," said Sam, "I talked to Hatori. Erasing her memory of Tulio is permanent. Nothing will trigger it. And if anyone lets anything slip, she'll just think they're crazy."

_So that's why she's still little Miss Sunshine!_

"Danny, you made yourself sick with worry when she was kidnapped. If you allow your guilt to continue eating away at you, you'll get even worse."

"You're right, Sam," he said with a sigh.

"Now drink this. It'll help you sleep," she said handing him a mug with a steaming amber liquid, "I'll be back in a couple of hours to see if your fever went down." Sam kissed him on the cheek and left his room.

Danny sat on his bed and drank everything in the mug before slipping off into a deep sleep.

Siren watched him for a moment, an evil sneer spreading across her face. _If you allow your guilt to continue eating away at you, you'll get even worse._ Worse? Why get her hands dirty with another murder when Danny can just kill himself? And when the others realize it was keeping the secret that did it, they'll in turn feel guilty, and even _more_ people will die!

"I'm coming for you, Danny," said Siren waving her hand over the crystal ball so that it became clouded over.

* * *

><p>Danny was standing in a white fog, when music began playing, and an eerie female voice sang along to the tune.<p>

_"Got a secret_

_Can you keep it?_

_Swear this one you'll save_

_Better lock it in your pocket_

_Taking this one to the grave_

_If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said_

_'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"_

He saw a familiar figure skipping about in a pink tutu, her long dark-brown curls bouncing to the tune. "Aralyne?" The figure turned and he saw scarlet eyes instead of warm golden-brown ones. _Siren! _She winked at him.

_"Why do you smile like you've been told a secret?_

_Now you're telling lies 'cause you have sworn to keep it_

_But no one keeps a secret_

_No one keeps a secret_

_Why when we do our darkest deeds do we tell?_

_They burn in our brains, become a living hell_

_Because everybody tells_

_Everybody tells"_

Danny tried to run away, but a myriad of mirrors dropped from the sky and land around the two of them, trapping him with her. As Siren kept dancing to the music, Aralyne suddenly appeared wearing a white silken dress, looking about her in confusion.

_"Got a secret_

_Can you keep it?_

_Swear this one you'll save_

_Better lock it in your pocket_

_Taking this one to the grave_

_If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said_

_'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"_

Tulio then materialized, grabbing Aralyne's attention. She grinned and threw herself into his arms. "Tulio!"

With an evil smirk, Siren danced over towards the couple, holding a dagger. Danny opened his mouth to shout out a warning to his friends, but Siren placed a finger over her lips to silence him, and no sound came out.

_"Look into my eyes, now you're getting sleepy_

_Are you hypnotized by secrets that you're keeping?_

_I know what you're keeping_

_I know what you're keeping_

_Got a secret_

_Can you keep it?_

_Swear this one you'll save_

_Better lock it in your pocket_

_Taking this one to the grave_

_If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said_

_'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"_

Siren stabbed Tulio in the back, and he fell to the ground. Aralyne screamed as she caught him, but fell over as well. When his body suddenly vanished, Siren sat beside Aralyne, the latter's white dress covered in blood.

_"Aralyne?"_

_"Yes, Siren?"_

_"I have something I want to tell you but you have to promise never to tell anyone."_

_"I promise."_

_"Do you swear on your life?"_

_"I swear on my life."_

"Danny helped erase _all_ of your memories of Tulio," said the villainess smirking at the halfa

_"You swore you'd never tell_

_You swore you'd never tell_

_You swore you'd never tell_

_You swore you'd never tell"_

Aralyne became furious and got to her feet, turning to Danny. "_How could you?! I thought you were my friend!"_

"I am, I swear!" Danny protested, backing up and slamming into a mirror.

_"Got a secret_

_Can you keep it?_

_Swear this one you'll save_

_Better lock it in your pocket_

_Taking this one to the grave_

_If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said_

_'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead_

_Got a secret_

_Can you keep it?_

_Swear this one you'll save_

_Better lock it in your pocket_

_Taking this one to the grave_

_If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said_

_'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead_

_Got a secret_

_Can you keep it?_

_Swear this one you'll save_

_Better lock it in your pocket_

_Taking this one to the grave_

_If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said_

_'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"_

With a cry of rage, Aralyne stormed back towards Siren. The villainess was silently laughing, swinging the dagger back and forth between her thumb and first finger. "Do it," she said. Danny wondered what she meant by that.

Aralyne took the dagger, and without hesitation, slit her own throat.

_"Yes, two can keep a secret if one of them is dead_

_Yes, two can keep a secret if one of us is dead."_

To Danny's horror, his friend, fell lifeless to the floor.

"You see what you did, Danny," Siren mocked, "and it's all because she found out your little secret."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

_(Brief lyrics in this chapter is from "Secret" by The Pierces, and the song "Here We Go Another Plan" from the movie "Peter Pan in Return to Neverland".)_

Siren laughed at the image in her crystal ball. Danny was tossing and turning in his bed, and visibly shaking. If the nightmare she planted in his mind didn't drive him over the edge, she didn't know what would!

Captain Hook then arrived, bowing with a flourish of his hat. "Siren! Lovely to see you, my dear!"

The villainess quickly sobered up, and waved her hand over the crystal ball, making it blank. "What do you want, Hook?"

"I just wanted to say that unlike, Silver, I will not disappoint. I will take that little brat far out to sea and feed her to a sea monster. Now can I just leave her body to rot in the belly of the beast, or do you still want proof of her being dead?"

"Do what you want with her," said Siren waving her hand at him, "And believe me, I'll _know_ if you've done the deed."

With another bow, the pirate left her alone.

* * *

><p>Danny was still trapped by the mirrors. Siren had vanished a long time ago, and Aralyne's bloody body remained on the floor. The song played on an endless loop, pretty much driving him insane. And to make matters worse, the mirrors continuously replayed Aralyne slitting her own throat over, and over, and over again. He had tried using his ghost powers to escape the torment, but he was stuck there.<p>

_"Got a secret_

_Can you keep it?_

_Swear this one you'll save_

_Better lock it in your pocket_

_Taking this one to the grave_

_If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said_

_'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"_

"No!" he shouted out placing his hands over his ears, but the tune seemed to be inside his head, and when he shut his eyes, he could still see Aralyne killing herself, and all because she was angry with him.

_"Why do you smile like you've been told a secret?_

_Now you're telling lies 'cause you have sworn to keep it_

_But no one keeps a secret_

_No one keeps a secret_

_Why when we do our darkest deeds do we tell?_

_They burn in our brains, become a living hell_

_Because everybody tells_

_Everybody tells"_

"It's not my fault! It's _not _my fault! It's _not my fault!_"

_"Got a secret_

_Can you keep it?_

_Swear this one you'll save_

_Better lock it in your pocket_

_Taking this one to the grave_

_If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said_

_'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"_

"But it _is_ your fault," said Aralyne's body slowly sitting up and turning to him, "and all because you kept the secret from me, Danny."

"Danny."

"Danny! Wake up!"

The teenager's eyes snapped open and he found himself in his room with Sam leaning over him, looking worried.

"You were having a nightmare," she said brushing his black hair out of his face. She quickly pulled back with a frown. "And you're covered in sweat!"

Danny sat up feeling nauseous, and suddenly puked over the side of the bed.

_"Got a secret_

_Can you keep it?_

_Swear this one you'll save"_

The song! It was still in his head!

"Oh my gosh! Danny! I'll be right back!" Sam left the room to get who knew what, leaving him completely alone.

_"Better lock it in your pocket_

_Taking this one to the grave"_

If he told Aralyne the truth, she would hate him! If she found out on her own, she would hate him! What was he to do? No matter how he looked at it, the result remained the same. He threw up once more.

_"If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said_

_'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"_

* * *

><p>I had left Nesidy, ignoring everyone that called out to me, and ended up going on a hike through the woods - <em>alone<em>. It was something I did before I had discovered Incantationen. Any time I was upset, I would just go for a hike up in the mountains or surrounding forests of New Mexico. I don't know how long I was gone, nor did I care. I only reluctantly turned back when I was too tired to carry on. Starving, too, but I didn't want to get food from people I could no longer trust. Returning to the Benbow Inn, I stormed up the stairs without saying a word to anyone.

Thankfully, no one followed me, and I slammed the door shut. It was still pretty early to get to bed - sometime in the late afternoon, I'm guessing - but I didn't care. I was exhausted from my hike. I changed into my pajamas: a large pink shirt and a pair of black shorts, and crawled into bed.

"I can't believe they're all hiding something from me!" I grumbled out sinking deep under the covers. Angry tears then began pouring down my face, until I eventually cried myself to sleep.

* * *

><p>Rain clouds had filled the sky over Nesidy, and many black birds were circling the building ominously, when suddenly the Jolly Roger appeared behind it. Ropes fell from the ship, carrying Hook's pirates down to the inn. Hook himself, peered inside the first window to see a young woman with short dark-brown hair asleep in bed. He stuck his hook between the crack and undid the latch.<p>

* * *

><p>Hearing a slight creak, I woke up, and sleepily looked at the floor to see the shadow of pirate open my window. Now wide awake and gasping, I sat up, but didn't see anything unusual other than the window being wide open. <em>How did that happen? I was dreaming?<em> I crawled out of bed and went to the window, closing it. Hearing a floorboard creak behind me, I turned around, and this time found myself surrounded by sinister looking pirates.

_Not again!_

"Hello, Aralyne," Hook sneered, twirling his mustache with his hook.

I opened my mouth to scream, because I didn't have Excalibur with me (_where was it, anyway?_) and I had to sound the alarm. Unfortunately, I had been gagged by someone standing behind me and felt my hands being tied behind my back. Through the cloth, I screamed, anyway as loud as I could, and kicked the floor.

"My apologies, miss," said Mr. Smee, putting a cloth sack over me.

* * *

><p>The others still working in the inn, were doing last minute cleaning when they heard a muffled scream, and a thump from upstairs. They all exchanged glances and looked up at the ceiling, a sense of dread falling over them.<p>

"Aralyne?" Mrs. Hawkins called out, running upstairs, the others following closely behind. "Aralyne, what's going on?!" There wasn't a reply. "Aralyne, anser me!"

* * *

><p>I heard Mrs. Hawkins calling out to me, as well as multiple footsteps running up the stairs. They were coming to my rescue!<p>

"Curses!" Hook swore, "Bring her down! Hurry, Smee!"

I started screaming again, and thrashed around, kicking out as much as possible in my sack prison. Of course, I couldn't see, so had no clue as to what was going on.

"Oh, come on, now. Don't fuss," said Mr. Smee nearby.

Eventually I was lifted up into the air and was tossed, landing painfully on my side so that the air was knocked out of me. I silently gasped from the pain and slowly sat up. Dammit! You would think that after all my training in the army, this wouldn't happen as often any more!

"Cast off, ya mangy dogs!" Hook shouted. "Hoist anchor!"

The sack slipped from my head and I stared about in bewilderment. I was on a ship; a _flying_ ship! And not like the mechanical one I had gotten from Treasure Island, either! Seeing me, a pirate roughly shoved me back into the sack. Finding a hole in the cloth, I peered through it to see we were leaving Nesidy behind and flying out over the ocean. It picked up in speed and within moments, we were so far out, no one could have been able to find us.

"This is simply perfect!" Hook sneered evilly, "Yes, Mr. Smee, with no one to rescue Aralyne, we will be on Siren's good graces. Summon the beast!"

_What?!_

"Yes, sir, Captain. Right away!" cried Smee with a salute while holding a tub full of dead fish and slops. He then began singing:

"_Oh, yo ho, ho, another plan_

_To try to capture Peter Pan_

_Captain Hook´s a brilliant man_

_Who else could think of the perfect crime_

_And bumble and fumble it every time?"_

"Smee!" Hook roared, obviously not happy with the lyrics of the song. Startled, the first mate, tripped and as a result, the tub flew overboard, and the gunk sank to the bottom of the ocean. I rolled my eyes at his clumsiness. A few seconds later we saw bubbles rising to the surface. A pirate grabbed my sack and tied it to a rope so that I was now hanging over the side of the ship. I screamed and began twisting about, hoping to get the ropes around my wrists loose. If I could do that, I would be able to swim away! "Make no doubt, Smee. That girl will be nothing but a memory."

His hat was suddenly scooped off his head, and a child's voice shouted, "Only in your dreams, Hook!"

"Pan!" Captain Hook said in outrage when he looked up to see Peter destroy his hat.

_Peter!_ Maybe I was to be saved after all!

"I didn't know a codfish could talk," Peter teased.

"Blast him!" the pirate leader ordered, and his cronies aimed their cannons at Peter.

"Take your best shot, Captain," Peter taunted with a childish smirk hovering near the mast.

"You're gonna have to do better than that, boy!" Hook sneered when he saw one of his pirates sneaking up on Peter. The child, however, saw this and dodged the sword-swinging villain.

"Whoa! Uh-uh-uh! Three strikes and you're out!" said Peter.

"Come down here, boy. I've a little something for you," said Hook, his sneer widening.

"A present for me? Aw, you really shouldn't have," said Peter sounding half serious now. What could the villain possibly have in store?

Captain Hook replied, "Call it a token of me affection. You see, it is a certain _friend_ of yours."

"Who?" Peter now asked in interest.

"Aralyne," Hook drawled out.

"Aralyne?" Peter said in surprise. Scowling, he pulled out his dagger and snarled, "Let her go, Hook, you black hearted scoundrel!" He attacked the pirate who fought back with his sword.

"You want her?" Hook inquired, "Ha! Well, go and get her!" He suddenly turned and sliced the rope holding my sack up, and I fell towards the ocean, screaming.

* * *

><p>Peter dove in after her. The pirates watched the water and waited in silence. A moment later, black ink clouded the water, and Peter's hat floated up to the surface along with a couple of bubbles. "I did it. I did it! I-I-I can't believe it. I killed Aralyne and Peter Pan!" Hook said in disbelief, then smiled, "Mr. Smee, who is the most brazen, bold, and brilliant buccaneer who ever sailed the briny blue?"<p>

"Um, Blackbeard?" Smee answered, looking pleased with himself before being smacked on the head by Hook's hook.

"Boys?" the Captain said turning to the rest of his crew.

The pirates looked at each other nervously before chanting, "Hook! Hook! Hook!"

* * *

><p>Under the water, and still trapped in the sack, I didn't know what was going on. I couldn't see or hear anything. Something grabbed me from around the waist and pulled me down deeper. The wet sack clung to me, making it even more difficult to move around. My lungs were starting to burn. Right as my chest tightened form lack of air, whatever had me, let me go, and I was grabbed once more beneath my legs and at my back. I didn't know which way I was being dragged. My body started to convulse and I inhaled, expecting to be drowned, but instead of water entering my lungs, it was air! I gasped in relief, knowing who my rescuer was.<p>

Peter Pan crowed and asked, "Did you miss me, Captain?"

"How did you escape the beast?" Hook demanded.

Again, I don't know what happened, but I felt Peter flying away from the ship with Hook and his pirates cursing at us.

* * *

><p>Now that Aralyne had been taken, again, everyone was panicking in Nesidy. Siren smiled evilly as she watched chaos ensue, while hiding in a dark alley. It was time for her to have a little fun.<p>

Seeing Belle run towards the Benbow Inn, Siren took aim and shot black energy at the beauty. It struck Belle in the back, and she fell over onto her hands and knees. For a moment, Belle didn't move, but then she slowly got to her feet, and turned towards Siren. The villainess smirked at her work. Belle's skin had turned a deathly pale, and her hazel eyes had turned an eerie black.

"Go out and kill, my little minion," Siren sneered. The dark Belle nodded once and walked off, moving like a zombie to do her mistress's bidding.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"Easy does it, Aralyne," said Peter carrying me through the air and landing on a boulder not far from Hook's ship. I continued to struggle with the ropes behind me, but unfortunately right when I got my left hand loose, it shot out of the sack right as Peter opened it up. "You should have seen Hook's face when I- Ow!" My fist accidentally connected with his cheek and he quickly pulled away.

"Ow! Ow! Ow, ow, ow!" I muttered crawling out of the sack and tending to the hand I had just injured hitting Peter Pan. "I'm sorry, Peter!"

We heard a loud _boom_ and turned towards Hook's ship in time to see a cannonball heading our way.

"Look out!" Peter cried shoving me out of range and dodging the cannonball.

"Pan, you double-crossing pipsqueak! Come back here and fight like a man!" Hook shouted out.

"Come and get me, you old codfish!" Peter taunted. He suddenly grasped me and took off into the sky, "Come on. We gotta fly out of here."

"Wait! Where are we going?" I cried out in alarm.

Ignoring my question, Peter flew about and I realized we had arrived at Neverland. Wow! The pirates certainly wanted to get as far away as possible!

Peter took me to a rainbow and we ran our fingers over it, before flying through it and coming out all colorful. Peter took me to Skull Rock and I watched in amazement as flying fish jumped out of the ocean before we headed over to the Indian camp, and then to the Mermaid Lagoon. The mermaids had taken me from Peter and while two of them were charming her, a third tried throwing water on me , but Peter came to my rescue right away. "Hey, this is great. You can stay here forever," Peter declared as he hovered in the air on his back with me balancing on his knees.

"I can't," I said looking down at him, glad to have decided to wear short under my shirt, "I have to get back to Nesidy.

Peter ignored me and suddenly dropped me over a tree stump, and I fell down into a hollow, landing on a slide that took me deep underground to Peter's home. After soaring off the slide, Peter caught me and set me on my feet, feeling dazed by the sudden ride.

"That was fun, huh?" Peter said with a laugh, "Lost Boys, fall in!"

One by one the Lost Boys appeared out of nowhere performing dangerous stunts.

"Oh, careful! You're going to fall!" I cried running up to Tootles who was swinging upside down from a tree root. When I grabbed him, he struggled, causing me to fall over on the giant bed in the center of the room, and he scampered off.

"Sound off!" Peter said, and then the Lost Boys jumped into a line stating their names.

"Slightly!"

"Nibs!"

"The twins!"

"Ow!" cried Cubby when a bucket fell from the ceiling and landed on his head, "Cubby."

"And that's Tootles!" said Slightly pointing to the child dressed as a skunk.

The boys then spat into the palms of their hands and clasped them together in a multi-high-five.

"Eww," I said scrunching up my nose in disgust and trying not to vomit.

"Boys, this is Aralyne, remember?" said Peter reintroducing me to the others, "She's gonna stay here and be our new mother, and tell us stories."

"I'm not- What do you mean by—" I tried to protest, but my voice was lost to the boys jumping around and shouting at once.

"Yeah! Stories!"

"Tell stories!"

"Come on!"

"Um, actually, I'm afraid I'm not very good at telling stories," I said trying to weasel my way out of it.

"Ah, that's okay. We're not very good at listening to stories," said Cubby with a shrug.

"I know. Let's play a game instead," Peter suggested.

"Red rover! Red rover!" the Twins cried out gleefully.

"Nah. Something else," said Slightly.

"Let's play the _no more hitting Cubby on the head_ game," Cubby said, then Nibs smirked and smacked him on the head.

"Hey, how about a treasure hunt?" Peter said, and again all of the Lost Boys spoke at once.

"Good idea!"

"Yeah! A treasure hunt!"

"I hid it really good this time. You guys will never find it," said Peter with a smirk. Again, they spoke at the same time.

"Sure we will!"

"Rubies!"

"Treasure! Treasure!"

"Diamonds!"

"Yeah, come on!"

"Let's go! Let's go!"

I couldn't handle this, being the only adult surrounded by children, and they were all so obnoxious! "No!" I said firmly looking at each boy in the face, "No, no, no, and no!" Tootles stuck his tongue out at me. Shaking my head, I stood up and said, "Ohh. I have to go." I walked out of the room down a hall way trying to find a way out of the den.

"What's the matter with her?" I heard Cubby inquire.

"I don't know," said Peter thoughtfully, "She acts kinda like a... grown-up."

"Eww!"

I shook my head at them. As much as I loved Peter and the Lost Boys, they could be so annoying some times!

* * *

><p>Siren remained in the shadows as she watched Belle go about the town with a knife she had picked up somewhere and stabbed people without Mercy. The entire front of her blue dress was splattered with blood, creating a horrifying scene, especially with her deathly pale skin and glowing black eyes.<p>

"Belle, stop this!" Jim Hawkins yelled, holding a long piece of rope. He had planned on using it to restrain her. She ignored him, and kept trudging forward, aimlessly waving the knife around.

Jim wasn't the only one that was carrying rope. Captain Amelia and John Smith each had the same idea he did. The two adults threw out their ropes and caught at Belle's arms, holding her pinned in place. Jim threw his, and it wrapped around Belle's throat. That should hold her!

With an unbelievable amount of strength, Belle jerked back, the ropes slipping out of Amelia's and Smith's hands. Jim held on tight to his, though, which he later on regretted. There was a sickening _snap _and Belle's head fell limply to the side. To their horror, she remained standing, and shook off the ropes about her arms, and cut off a portion of the one around her neck. It continued to hang about her throat, but at a shorter length, and she kept moving forward.

"Bloody hell!" Captain Amelia said.

Jim's eyes widened in terror at what just happened and took off running.

Siren laughed maniacally at the events transpiring. This turned out even better than she had imagined.

When people began bringing out weapons to destroy Belle, Siren pouted. Time to end her fun. She could't allow them to break her toys. With a sigh, Siren waved her hand and made Belle vanish, sending her into the dungeons of her castle.

"Where'd she go?" People began to shout out.

"Don't worry, little heroes," Siren purred, "We'll come back to play _real_ soon."

* * *

><p>After a couple of hours, I had managed to create a raft and collected enough supplies to last me a while. With luck, I would be able to make it back to Nesidy!<p>

"Half-dozen bananas," I said going over a list I had created on a leaf with a piece of coal I found, "Check. Ten coconuts. Check. Two oars—"

"Hey, Aralyne," said Peter flying up to me and I turned to him slightly annoyed, "How come you want to go so bad?"

"I just have to," I replied.

"Why?"

_Good question. I could just stay here. As childish as Peter was, he would never betray me, right? _But deep down, I felt something was terribly wrong in Nesidy.

"Well, um, I can't really answer that," I said.

"Why not?"

With a sigh of irritation I said, "If you must know, I have a bad feeling about not returning to Nesidy."

"Why?"

"Because my evil side maybe off causing havoc somewhere," I said.

"What? Why?" Peter asked in shock.

"Well, oh, I don't know! Because she's _evil?! _ But I have to get back and make sure everything is okay," I said.

"Why?"

"_Because! _That's why!" I finally snapped at him.

"Well, you know, you can't get home that way," Peter said gesturing to my poor makeshift raft.

"I- I've got to try," I replied quietly tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, "Well... good-bye. It was nice meeting you again, Peter Pan. Duty calls." I took the raft out onto the water and climbed onto it. After a few seconds of sailing, the boat sprung a leak and I ran to cover it up. Then another leak sprang up, and another, and another, and another. The entire rafter sank and I was left floating in the water with all of the bananas and coconuts I had collected for my journey.

"You okay?" Peter asked flying out to me.

"I just have to go home," I said quietly, blinking back tears.

If anything happened to my friends in Nesidy, it would be my fault because I wasn't there to protect them. Despite the fact they were all lying to me, I still cared about them.

"Well, you know, the only way out of here is to fly. Come on, I'll show you how," said Peter then grasped me around the waist and lifted me out of the water.

* * *

><p>Captain Hook and his pirates sailed onto Neverland's shores and left their rowboats on the beach as they began their search. "Step softly, you worthless dogs! Set your sights for Aralyne!" Hook ordered, "There'll be no rest until we have that girl in irons."<p>

* * *

><p>Peter had taken me to a clearing where there was a small cliff, and had me perched on it for a minute. Down below, the Lost Boys were watching in fascination.<p>

"Oh, no, Peter," I said when he had picked me up again, "I really don't think this will wo—" He dropped me and I landed on my knees on the cliff. With a sigh of relief, I continued, "This is ridiculous. I can't fly!"

"Well, of course _you_ can't, but _I_ can! I guess I'm just smarter than you," Peter said with a smirk, lounging about on the air.

"I highly doubt that," I said with a snort.

"Braver."

"Right," I said rolling my eyes.

"Stronger!"

"Oh, yeah, that's it," I said sarcastically.

"Well, then it must be my good looks."

"Or maybe you're full of hot air," I said.

"Hey!" Peter cried, not put off by the insult, "Look, anybody can do it."

The Lost Boys spoke in turns as they floated in the air.

"Yeah! All it takes is faith—"

"Trust."

"And, uh, something else," Cubby said in thought.

"Pixie dust?" I suggested for him.

"That's it!" he exclaimed.

Peter produced a bag from his pocket and opened it, pulling out a handful of sparkly golden dust. He blew it all into my face.

"Now, that's enough!" I said as I accidentally inhaled a great deal of it, and sneezed.

"Okay, Aralyne," said Peter hovering around me with a sneaky grin on his face.

"Don't even think about it," I said eyeing him warily.

"Ready or not—" Peter cried shoving me off the cliff. I fell towards the ground screaming. Below me, the Lost Boys ran around talking at once.

"I got her!"

"I got her!"

"I got her!"

"I got her!"

"I got her!"

They stopped at random places waiting to catch me, and I painfully landed well out of their range in a heap.

"I thought you said you got her," said Cubby trying to place the blame on someone else.

I sat up with a groan and said, "Oh, how will I ever get back to Nesidy?"

"Hey, what's this?" said Peter picking up a golden ring that was lying on the ground. My hand automatically went straight to face, but found my fingers bare, knowing full well what the child was holding.

"Oh, give that back. It's my ring!" I declared getting to my feet and running towards Peter, "Grandpa gave that to me so I can get back to my own world! It's very important to me!"

"Huh! No wonder you can't fly," Peter said keeping it out of my reach with a large childish smile plastered on his face.

"Give it back, Peter," I demanded.

Peter tossed it to the nearest Lost Boy crying, "Slightly, catch!"

"Keep away from Aralyne!" said Slightly as he threw it to someone else. I chased after the Lost Boys as they threw the ring to each other, and I was really starting to lose my patience.

"I got it!"

"I got it!"

"You boys are horrid!" I screeched at them.

"Come on, come on, over here!"

"You're going to lose it!" I yelled in distress.

"Come on! Why don't you guys ever throw to me?" Cubby whined.

"No, stop it! This isn't funny!" I said tripping over my own feet and crashing to the floor.

"I've got it!" Cubby yelled finally catching the ring. Since I was near him, I grabbed his foot and yanked him down to the ground with me, and snatched the ring back.

"This is just a game to you, isn't it? Well, I'm tired of playing," I snapped angrily putting the ring back on my finger.

"Gosh, Aralyne, we didn't mean to make you mad," said Peter shrugging slightly.

"Oh, grow up. You did so," I said angrily getting to my feet and marching straight up to Peter, "You're just a bunch of silly, ridiculous _children_." I shoved him backwards, which surprised him. "Good-bye!" I stormed off out of the clearing.

"Oh, yeah? Well, good riddance! Hmm!" Peter huffed out.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

_(Songs in this chapter are "I'll try" by Jonatha Brooke, "So To Be One of Us", "Now That You're One of Us" , and "I'll Try Reprise" from the movie "Peter Pan in Return to Neverland")_

It was dark by the time I stopped. Still furious with the boys, I made a small fire to try and keep myself warm for the night. Eventually I fell asleep.

"_I am not a child now._

_I can take care of myself._

_I mustn't let them down now._

_Mustn't let them see me cry._

_I'm fine_

_I'm fine._

_I'm too tired to listen._

_I'm too old to believe_

_All these childish stories._

_There is no such_

_Thing as faith and trust and pixie dust._

_I try_

_But it's so hard to believe._

_I try_

_But I can't see what you see._

_I try_

_I try_

_I try"_

A slight rainstorm woke me up, and abandoning my dead fireplace, I ran beneath a boulder, to take cover. Hugging myself to stay warm, tears welled in my eyes as I thought of my friends in Nesidy. Why is it all these things happen to me? Why did _I_ have to be the savior of Incantationen?

"_My whole world is changing_

_I don't know where to turn_

_I can't leave you waiting_

_But I can't stay and watch the city burn (umm)_

_Watch it burn_

_Cause I try_

_But it's so hard to believe._

_I try_

_But I can't see what you see._

_I try_

_I try_

_I try and try to understand the distance in between_

_The love I feel, the things I fear and every single dream"_

_I can finally see it_

_Now I have to believe_

_All those precious stories_

_All the world is made of faith and trust and pixie dust_

_So I'll try_

_Cause I finally believe_

_I'll try_

_Cause I can see what you see_

_I'll try_

_I'll try_

_I will try_

_I'll try_

_To fly"_

* * *

><p>The next morning, Peter and the Lost Boys searched for Aralyne all over Neverland, calling out her name. It almost sounded like an echo had gone all over the island.<p>

"Aralyne, come on back!" Peter yelled as he flew over a river.

* * *

><p>I had drifted off back to sleep sometime during the storm, and now woke up once more to hear someone calling out my name. Realizing who it was, I got up and followed the voice. I felt guilty for how I treated the boys and wanted to apologize. Besides, with their help I would be able to fly off this island, and back to Nesidy.<p>

"Peter! Peter Pan!" When there was no answer, I turned to search somewhere else but then nearly collided with him when he dropped down from a tree. We both began speaking at the exact same time.

"Ohh! There you are! I've been looking all over for- I, uh- No, no, no. You."

Peter slapped his hands over my mouth to keep from talking and spoke, "I'm awful sorry for taking your ring. Me and the Lost Boys, we want to do something to make it up to you. We want you to feel like- well, like you're one of us. We'll do anything for you. Honest." He pulled his hands away.

"Anything?" I inquired, an eyebrow arching at his answer.

"Anything at all! You just name it."

I thought for a second, wondering how I was going to gain their trust, then recalled what had happened when I had first met the rest of the Lost Boys, "Well, um, why don't we play a game... like maybe treasure hunt!"

"Treasure hunt? That's a great idea!" Peter exclaimed, "But you'll have to think like a Lost Boy. And have fun like a Lost Boy!"

"Tell me what to do," I said nervously.

"Well, to be one of us," said one Twin appearing by my side.

"Yes?"

"There are some things to know," added the second Twin.

"What's that?" I inquired right as all of the Lost Boys appeared. They then began singing as they showed me around Neverland and how to be like them.

"_We like to dream all day_

_And then at night we play_

_We swing on limbs of trees_

_Till we wake up the bees_

_These are the things_

_We Lost Boys do_

_We swing from rope to rope_

_We have no use for soap_

_With open mouths we chomp_

_On mud pies from the swamp_

_And then we top it off_

_With pudding from a trough_

_These are the things_

_We Lost Boys do_

_We´re rolling in dirt_

_And we won´t change our shirt_

_We´re marching around_

_To see what makes a sound"_

I was sitting on a log on a river with Peter pushing it down stream.

"_Dare you to throw that rock!_

_I'll get a triple skip!_

_Dare you to explore that cave!_

_I'll have an overnight trip!_

_And if you´re feeling scared_

_I´ll have my friends right there_

_These are the things_

_We Lost Boys do"_

The log tumbled over a water fall, and Peter flew away while I dove headfirst into the water. After swimming back to the surface, I pulled myself up onto a boulder and followed a whole path of them into a cave. In the very center of the cavern, I found the treasure glinting in a shaft of sunlight.

"The treasure!" I said in delight, "I found it!"

"Hey, Aralyne, you did it!" Peter declared in delight as he flew into the cave, "Lost Boys! Aralyne found the treasure in Dead Man's Cave!"

The rest of the children swung into the cave on a vine and landed in the water, splashing me, and making me laugh.

"Attention!" Peter yelled, putting the crown on his head, "Fall in!" He picked up a sword and used it as if he were knighting me. "In honor of your downright unbelievable skill at finding hidden treasures... I now proclaim you, Aralyne, a Lost Boy! Uh, I mean a Lost Girl."

My eyes widened, not believing what I heard. "Me? The very first Lost Girl?"

"What's the matter? Don't you want to be?" Peter asked, misinterpreting my tone of voice. I suddenly squealed and threw my arms around him in a hug.

"Oh, yes. I'd like that very much, Peter."

"Let's hear it for Aralyne!" one of the boys shouted and they all began singing again as Peter gave me a white animal hat.

"_Now that you´re one of us_

_Feel free to sing along_

_We are so proud of you_

_That you can do no wrong"_

_And we don´t even care_

_If you pull on our hair_

_These are the things_

_That Lost Boys—"_

I stopped the song for a brief second winking at Peter as I continued it,

"_These are the things_

_That Lost Girls—"_

They created a pyramid with me at the very top as they finished the song.

"_These are the things_

_we love to—"_

Hook's pirates suddenly entered the cave with their weapons drawn. Startled, I gasped and my movement caused the whole pyramid to topple over, all of us landing in a heap.

I quickly ducked behind a boulder half submerged in the water, and went below. I could still hear everything, but it was muffled, and my vision was blurry from the water.

"Oh! Hey! Let me go!" Peter yelled as several of the villains tied him up with ropes, and the rest of the Lost Boys were captured as well.

"I could have sworn she was here! Never mind! If she's as good as she claims to be, she'll trade her life for Peter Pan's!" Hook said to the child with an evil sneer. All of the children were thrown into a rowboat nearby and the pirates left.

I popped out of the water gasping for air. _Dammit! _Hook wasn't wrong! I couldn't just leave the boys to die in my place! Taking off my white cat ears, I tossed them aside, and ran back towards the Lost Boys' hideout.

"_I can finally see it_

_Now I have to believe"_

"Oh. Oh, no. This is all my fault," I muttered arriving at the hideout. I found a dagger one of the boys left lying around, and stuck it in the waistband of my shorts.

"_All those precious stories_

_How the world is made of faith_

_And trust"_

"I'm so sorry, boys," I said, finding a bag of Peter's pixie dust, "But I'll save you!"

"_And pixie dust_

_So I´ll try_

_´Cause I finally believe_

_I´ll try_

_´Cause I can see what you see_

_I´ll try_

_I´ll try_

_To fly"_

* * *

><p>On the Jolly Roger, the pirates had the Lost Boys bound together to a mast and Peter was tied to an anchor that was dangling above the deck. The villains had their swords drawn up towards the flying child and were taunting him.<p>

"Aye. Keel haul the brats!"

"He's fish food now!"

"Hey, he's like a piñata!"

Hook was smiling at what he created and said to his first mate, "Look at him, Smee. He's nothing but a child. And I _loathe_ children. Uh, cut him down." A pirate followed orders, and the anchor crashed onto the deck with a crash, and Peter had to bite back a cry of pain. He sat up as best as he could and glared up at the Captain, "Any last words, boy?"

"Let the Lost Boys go."

"Oh, they'll go," said Hook with an evil grin, "right after you, one by one, off the end of the plank!"

Turning to his friends, Peter said, "Be brave, lads. Don't let 'em see you cry." The rest of the Lost Boys exchanged glances, then moved to the other side of the mast where they couldn't be seen and began sobbing.

"Say your prayers, Peter Pan," Hook sneered.

* * *

><p>I had managed to sneak up onto the Jolly Roger and climbed up onto a beam, well out of the pirate's notice. "Not so fast, you old codfish, or you'll have to answer to me," I yelled out. Everyone on the ship looked about until they glanced up to see me giving Hook the evil eye. The Lost Boys began cheering.<p>

"Aralyne?" Peter exclaimed a grin creeping across his face.

"Good heavens! Run! Run for your lives! It's... a little girl," Hook mocked and my face flamed for a moment at the insult. _I am NOT a little girl!_

I then saw a key hanging around Hook's throat and knew it had to be the one to unlock the chains holding Peter to the anchor. _I have to get that key!_ With the dagger I got from Peter's hideout, I cut a rope, and used it to swing down onto the deck beside the Lost Boys and cut their bindings.

"Don't just stand there, you fools. Get the girl!" Hook cried out when he saw his hostages now free, "Oh! Destroy them young tykes! Smee!"

The Lost Boys and I ran about the ship trying to avoid the pirates who charged after us with weapons. At one point, we had gotten trapped at the highest point of the deck near the treasure. We picked up whatever weapons we could and turned to face the pirates. Tootles sat on top of an open treasure chest with a sling shot and used it to shoot a giant diamond into the sky.

"Gimme!" One pirate shouted chasing after the jewel, "Mine! Mine! Big shiny! Mi—" he fell over the edge of the ship. The children and I exchanged sneaky grins then used sling shots to shoot treasure over the ship. The pirate crew, being as greedy as they were, jumped over board to retrieve the treasure.

Leaving the boys to handle the other pirates, I ran towards Hook and he attacked me with a sword. I dodged every move he made, twirled to the side, and hit him on the head with the butt end of my dagger. He crumpled to the floor. I reached out to grasp the key.

At that moment, Hook's hook clasped around my wrist and he stood up snarling, "I've had just about enough of your childish games!"

"Aralyne, look out!" Peter yelled as Hook swung at me with a sword. I dodged the weapon, managing to pull the key away from Hook and ran for my life. The villain chased me up a mast and onto a beam where I was trapped. I tripped over my own feet, and fell over backwards on the beam, having a slight heart attack when I thought I was going to fall to my death.

"Give up, girl," the Captain snarled, pointing the tip of the sword at my throat.

I gulped in fear, staring at the tip of the sword, then looked around trying to find an escape. My gaze landed upon Peter Pan who stared up at me with worry. I smiled then faced the pirate once again. Pushing the sword aside I said, "Never! Don't you see, Hook? You'll never win. Not as long as there is faith, trust... and pixie dust." I quickly pulled out Peter's bag of pixie dust and dumped it all over myself before falling over backwards off the beam. Everyone watching gasped, knowing that the I could not fly. Then, to their bewilderment, I soared through the sky as if I had known how to fly all along.

"Unbelievable!" Peter exclaimed, his smile wide as I flew up behind him and unlocked his chains.

"Mere child's play," I said smiling as I bowed to him. Hand in hand, we flew through the sky until Hook swung down on a rope and caught me around the throat, pinning me to a mast.

"Gotcha!" he cried out in triumph, "Ha! Looks like I've got the upper hook now."

Glaring at the villain, Peter pulled out his dagger and said, "Game's over, Hook. I win! Ha!" He threw the weapon, and it sliced through the rope Hook held. Now the pirate fell to the deck in a heap, allowing me to escape. Peter Pan picked up the anchor and took it up high. "Hey, Captain, you forgot your anchor." He dropped it on top of Hook, and the pirate and the anchor fell through the floor of the deck and all the way through the ship until they came out in the ocean.

"Abandon ship!" The Lost Boys yelled as the ship began to sink.

Captain Hook then shot up out of the hole, screaming with an orange octopus right behind him. "No! Help me, please!" he begged of Peter and me.

"You know the rules, Hook. A good captain always goes down with his ship," Peter said with a smirk.

Hook was stunned for a moment before wailing, "I don't want to be a good captain!"

The octopus, ship, and Hook all vanished under water.

The Lost Boys had managed to get into their own rowboat and were drifting over to an outcropping of boulders, the lot of them chanting, "Hook is a codfish, a codfish, a codfish, a codfish! Hooray!" Peter and I flew over to them. "Let's hear it for Aralyne! The one and only... Lost Girl!"

I grinned and bowed saying, "Thank you. Thank you." Peter smiled for a moment, but it quickly faded and he sat down, looking depressed. This didn't escape my notice. "What's wrong, Peter?"

"Aw, you can fly now," he replied sadly, "You can go home."

My eyes widened at the realization and sad, "I _can_ go to Nesidy."

The Lost Boys all looked as if they were ready to cry.

"But..."

"But..."

"But..."

"But..."

"But..."

They suddenly swarmed me in a giant hug.

"We'll miss you," said one Twin.

"Yeah. A lot," the second Twin agreed.

"And I'll miss you. All of you," I said truthfully giving each Lost Boy a hug, "But I have to get back to Nesidy. And besides, now I've got great stories to tell my friends... and they'll all be about Peter Pan and the Lost Boys."

All of the Lost Boys grinned at each other, no longer sad to see me go and Peter stood up saying with an elegant bow, "Hey, in that case... mademoiselle, it would be my pleasure... to escort you back to Nesidy."

"The pleasure will be all mine, good sir," I said then smirked and shoved him off the boulder.

"Whoa! Hey!" he said flying back up and grinned at me.

"Oh wait," said Slightly, "What about the treasure? We should hide it in case more pirates show up."

I could see the thought of another adventure spark in Peter's eyes, and he turned to me as if asking if it were okay to put off their departure for a moment more.

"Go ahead," I said with a nod, "I'll wait for you on the island." The boys grinned and cheered before diving into the sea to go get the treasure once more.

I hopped across the boulders until I reached the shores of Neverland and suddenly out of the trees stepped a giant, a Spanish swordsman, and a short, bald Sicilian

"A word, my lady," said the bald man, "We are but poor, lost circus performers. Is there a village nearby?"

I eyed them suspiciously wondering where they came from and said, "There is nothing nearby... other than an Indian village, but it's not for another couple of miles."

An evil grin then crossed the bald man's lips. "Then there will be no one to hear you scream!"

The giant approached me and pinched my neck before I could run or scream.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Aralyne passed out and the giant caught her in his massive arms before she could hit the floor. A little later, the three men had taken her onto a boat, while the bald man, whose name was Vizzini was on the shore tearing up a piece of fabric.

The Spanish swordsman named Inigo inquired, "What is that you're ripping?"

"It's fabric from the uniform of an army officer of Guilder," Vizzini replied

"Who's Guilder?" asked the giant, Fezzik.

"One of the countries across the sea, the sworn enemy of Nesidy," said Vizzini tossing the piece of fabric onto the ground. He crossed the gangplank and continued speaking, "Once the brats realize that this girl is missing, the fabric will make them suspect the Guilderians have abducted her and will go tell their allies in Nesidy. When they find her body dead on the Guilder frontier, their suspicions will be totally confirmed."

"You never said anything about killing anyone," Fezzik replied, his brow creasing in worry.

Rounding on him angrily, Vizzini snapped at him, "I've hired you to help me start a war. It's a prestigious line of work, with a long and glorious tradition."

"I just don't think it's right, killing an innocent girl," said Fezzik.

"Am I going mad, or did the word THINK escape your lips?" Vizzini now yelled, "YOU WERE NOT HIRED FOR YOUR BRAINS, YOU HIPPOPOTAMIC LAND MASS!"

"I agree with Fezzik," Inigo spoke up.

Vizzini now turned his attention to the Spaniard, "OH! The SOT has spoken! What happens to her is not truly your concern._ I_ will kill her! And remember this, NEVER forget this: when I found you, you were so _slobbering drunk_, YOU COULDN'T BUY BRANDY! AND YOU!" he faced Fezzik once more, "_Friendless_, _brainless_, _helpless_, _hopeless!_ DO YOU WANT ME TO SEND YOU BACK TO WHERE YOU WERE? UNEMPLOYED? IN GREENLAND?"

Not saying anything, Fezzik and Inigo were preparing the ship to set sail before Peter and the Lost Boys returned.

"Vizzini, he can... fuss," said Inigo speaking only to the giant.

Fezzik thought for a second then replied, "Fuss, fuss... I think he likes to scream... at us."

"Probably he means no... harm," Inigo added.

"He's really very short on... charm!" said Fezzik.

Smiling, Inigo said, "Ah, You have a great gift for rhyme."

"Yes, yes, some of the time," Fezzik agreed.

"Enough of that!" Vizzini yelled overhearing their antics.

"Fezzik, are there rocks ahead?" Inigo asked.

"If there are, we'll all be dead!" Fezzik answered.

"No more rhymes now, I mean it!" Vizzini snapped.

"Anybody want a peanut?" asked Fezzik.

Vizzini screamed in frustration.

* * *

><p>Siren decided to check and see how Hook was faring. In her crystal ball, she watched in absolute boredom as he failed, and was eventually eaten by the giant octopus. Well, at least the creature finished him off for her. That was another villain she wouldn't bother raising from the dead.<p>

Then her interest peaked as some unknown men came onto the scene and kidnapped Aralyne. They weren't part of her followers, and she would find it rather sad if these three managed to do what two of her villains could not.

_Well, we'll just wait and see, won't we?_

* * *

><p>When the Lost Boys returned to Neverland after retrieving the treasure and hiding it once more, they could not find Aralyne anywhere. They searched every inch of the island for her, but to no avail, until Peter found the piece of fabric Vizzini had left behind, he quickly realized what had happened. Leaving the boys behind, he flew out over the ocean hoping to find the ship that had Aralyne, and indeed found a vessel. Upon landing on the deck, he found himself surrounded by pirates, but not any he recognized.<p>

A man entirely dressed in black along with a black mask pointed a sword at him and asked, "What is it you want, boy?"

"Are you the ones that took Aralyne?" the child demanded looking about at them all.

"Aralyne?" the man in black said, something flashing in his blue eyes, "What would we want with her?"

"She was kidnapped by Guilderians," Peter explained.

"Listen, boy, we'll go out and find the girl. Tell the leader of Nesidy she'll be returned safely."

Peter nodded and said, "And who shall I say the message is from?"

The man in black smiled. "The Dread Pirate Roberts."

* * *

><p>I was now awake and tied up, not to mention, I had learned the names of my captors.<p>

Inigo was looking behind the boat frequently, which was really bothering Vizzini.

"We'll reach the cliffs by dawn," said the bald man then demanded of the Spaniard, "Why are you doing that?"

"Making sure nobody follows us," replied Inigo.

"That would be inconceivable," said Vizzini.

I glared at her captors and said, "Despite what you think, you will be caught. And when you are, I will personally kick your asses!"

"Of all the asses on this boat, girl, the one you should be worrying about is your own," said Vizzini. He then noticed Inigo look back once more. "Stop doing that! We can all relax, it's almost over."

"You are sure nobody's following us?" Inigo asked facing Vizzini.

"As I told you, it would be absolutely, totally, and in all other ways, inconceivable. No one in Guilder knows what we've done, and no one in Nesidy could've gotten here so fast," said Vizzini, then frowned slightly, "Out of curiosity, why do you ask?"

"Oh, it's nothing, suddenly, I just happen to look behind us and something is there," Inigo replied nonchalantly.

"What?" Vizzini cried out in disbelief, peering out over to where Inigo was pointing, "Probably some local fisherman out for a pleasure cruise at night... through eel infested waters."

With all of the men distracted, I picked up a knife that was left at my side, quickly cut my bindings and jumped overboard.

"Wha-wh- Go in! Get after her!" Vizzini yelled at the other two when I began swimming away.

"I don't swim," Inigo said.

"I only dog paddle," Fezzik added.

Vizzini yelled in frustration as the others began steering the boat after me. "VEER LEFT! LEFT! LEFT!" A loud, harsh shrieking sound suddenly echoed around the waters and I froze in fear as something brushed against my leg. "Do you know what that sound is, girl?" Vizzini asked with a sinister grin, "Those are the shrieking eels. If you don't believe me, just wait! They always grow louder when they're about to feed on human flesh." An eel swam by me and I screamed, trying to get away from it. "If you swim back now, I promise, no harm will come to you. I doubt you'll get such an offer from the eels." An eel began to charge at me. Fezzik suddenly leaned over the boat which was right behind me and hit the eel before lifting me out of the water and into the boat.

"Put her down, just put her down," Vizzini ordered and Fezzik did, tying me back up in the process.

"I think he's getting closer," said Inigo gazing back at the ship following them.

"HE'S NO CONCERN OF OURS. SAIL ON!" Vizzini yelled, then turned his attention back to me, "I suppose you think you're brave, don't you?"

"Only compared to some," I replied coldly, glaring at him.

* * *

><p>While everyone was trying to clean up the mess Belle had created, Peter Pan arrived looking somewhat exhausted. Without saying a greeting to anyone, he ran right up to Grandpa.<p>

"Lao Shi!" he cried, "I'm so glad I found you! It's about Aralyne!"

"Peter Pan?" Danny said in surprise, looking even more sick. Sam wanted him to stay in bed, but refused when he heard Aralyne was missing again. Then he added, "Wait. What? Aralyne? Where is she?"

"Peter, what's wrong?" Grandpa demanded, "Is she okay? Please tell me she's okay!"

The child shook his head and replied, "She was kidnapped by Guilderians. I don't know where they were going, but I ran into the Dread Pirate Roberts and he said he would save her and return her safely to Nesidy."

When the pirate's name was mentioned, everyone within earshot gasped. Grandpa ignored them for a moment and placed a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Thank you, Peter. You've been a great help. Please return to Neverland and get some rest." The child nodded and shot off into the sky.

"Lao Shi," said Captain Amelia, "The Dread Pirate Roberts can be just as ruthless as Hook or Silver. Do you think it wise to trust him with Miss Chanson?"

"I know," said Grandpa, "But something doesn't make sense. If he was so ruthless, I doubt he would have told Peter to pass on the message that Aralyne will be safe. Or even spared Peter's life. He's the only hope we've got."

* * *

><p>"Look! He's right on top of us!" said Inigo, looking back at the gaining ship for the billionth time, "I wonder if he's using the same wind we are using."<p>

"Whoever he is, he's too late," said Vizzini excitedly pointing forwards, "SEE? THE CLIFFS OF INSANITY! HURRY UP! MOVE THE THING! AND THAT OTHER THING! MOVE IT!" A few minutes later, we docked and exited boat. At the foot of the cliffs was a rope dangling down for people to climb up if they dared. "Only Fezzik is strong enough to go up our way. He'll have to sail around for hours 'til he finds a harbor."

Inigo, Vizzini and I were clinging to Fezzik, as he climbed the rope to the top. The man in black jumped from his ship and headed after us.

"He's climbing the rope. And he's gaining on us," said Inigo in amazement.

"Inconceivable!" Vizzini yelled, "FASTER!"

"I thought I _was_ going faster," Fezzik grunted out.

Vizzini then roared in his ear, "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THIS COLOSSUS, YOU WERE THIS GREAT LEGENDARY THING, AND YET HE GAINS!"

"Well, I'm carrying three people, and he's got only himself," Fezzik pointed out.

Vizzini growled out in annoyance, "I do not accept excuses. I'm just going to have to find myself a new giant, that's all."

"Don't say that, Vizzini. Please?" Fezzik said obviously hurt by that remark.

"DID I MAKE IT CLEAR THAT YOUR JOB IS AT STAKE?" Vizzini shouted again.

Once at the top of the Cliffs of Insanity, Inigo helped Vizzini and me over the edge. Vizzini then began sawing at the rope with his dagger and it slithered over the edge out of sight. We all peered down at the masked man clinging to the cliff after Vizzini had cut the rope.

"He's got very good arms," Fezzik commented.

Vizzini joined them and exclaimed angrily, "HE DIDN'T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE! "

Inigo gave him a funny look and said, "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." He then transferred his gaze back to the man on their trail. "My God! He's climbing!"

"Whoever he is, he's obviously seen us with the girl and must therefore die," said Vizzini then said to Fezzik, "You, carry her. We'll head straight for the Guilder frontier." To Inigo, he added, "Catch up when he's dead. If he falls, fine. If not, the sword."

"I'm going to duel him left-handed," Inigo said.

"YOU KNOW WHAT A HURRY WE'RE IN!" Vizzini roared.

"Is the only way I can be satisfied. If I use my right, over too quickly," Inigo explained.

"Oh, have it your way," said Vizzini in exasperation.

"You be careful. People in masks cannot be trusted," Fezzik said to his Spanish friend.

Vizzini yelled from the side, "I'M WAITING!"

Vizzini, Fezzik and I departed the Ruins, leaving Inigo to prepare for the masked man.

* * *

><p>Inigo looked over the cliff edge and shouted out, "Hello there!" The masked man glanced up. "Slow going?"<p>

"Look, I don't mean to be rude," said the Dread Pirate Roberts as he slowly climbed up the cliff, "but this is not as easy as it looks, so I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't distract me."

"Sorry," Inigo apologized.

"Thank you," the Dread Pirate Roberts replied tersely.

"I do not suppose you could-a speed things up?" Inigo asked hopefully after spending a couple of seconds fighting the air with his sword.

"If you're in such a hurry, you could lower a rope or a tree branch or find something useful to do," said the Dread Pirate Roberts.

"I could do that," replied Inigo, "I've got some rope up here, but I do not think you would accept my help, since I am only waiting around to kill you."

With a nod, the Dread Pirate Roberts said sarcastically, "That does put a damper on our relationship."

"But, I promise I will not kill you until you reach the top," said Inigo.

"That's very comforting, but I'm afraid you'll just have to wait," said the man in black.

"I hate waiting," Inigo muttered to himself as he began to walk away, but turned and came back saying to the other man, "I could give you my word as a Spaniard...?"

The Dread Pirate Roberts replied in a strained voice, "No good. I've known too many Spaniards."

"So's there any way you'll trust me?" Inigo inquired.

"Nothing comes to mind," said the Dread Pirate Roberts.

"I swear, on the soul of my father, Domingo Montoya, you will reach the top alive," Inigo said solemnly.

The Dread Pirate Roberts stared up at him for a moment before saying, "Throw me the rope." Inigo uncoiled part of the rope from the rock it was attached to and tossed it over the edge. The man in black grasped the rope and climbed to the top. "Thank you," he said wearily beginning to draw his sword.

"W-w-w-w-we'll wait until you're ready," Inigo replied, showing good form to his enemy.

The Dread Pirate Roberts was obviously surprised by this and said, "Again, thank you." They both sat on giant boulders and the man in black emptied rocks from his boots.

While waiting, Inigo said, "I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?"

Still holding a boot, the man in black asked a question of his own, "Do you always begin conversations this way?"

"My father was slaughtered by a six fingered man," Inigo explained quietly, "Was a great sword maker, my father. When the six fingered man appear and request a special sword, my father took the job." He drew his sword from its scabbard. It was beautiful with an elegant golden hilt and the blade shone almost unnaturally. The Dread Pirate was impressed and had seen a sword as great as that once before in his life. "He slave a year before he was done." He handed the Dread Pirate Roberts the sword.

Admiring the weapon up close, the man in black said, "I would like to see a fight between this and Excalibur." He returned the sword.

Inigo continued on with his story, "Six fingered man returned and demanded it, but at one-tenth his promised price. My father refuse. Without a word, the six fingered man slash him through the heart." He sheathed the sword. "I loved my father, so naturally I challenged his murderer to a duel. I fail. Six fingered man leave me alive. But he give me these." Inigo pointed to the scars running the length of his cheeks.

"How old were you?" the Dread Pirate Roberts inquired.

"I was eleven years old," Inigo replied, "When I was-a strong enough, I dedicated my life to the study of fencing, so the next time we meet, I will not fail. I will go up to the six fingered man and say, _Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die._"

"You've done nothing but study swordplay?" the man in black asked.

"More a pursuit than a study, lately. You see, I cannot find him. It has been twenty years now and I am starting to lose confidence. I just work for Vizzini to pay the bills. It's not a lot of money in revenge," said Inigo.

"Well," said the Dread Pirate Roberts standing with his boots back on, "I certainly hope you find him someday."

"You are ready, then?" Inigo asked.

"Whether I am or not, you've been more than fair," said the Dread Pirate Roberts.

"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you," Inigo stated apologetically.

"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die," added the man in black.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Inigo and the Dread Pirate Roberts pulled out their swords and began to fight. _Clang, clang, swish_. _Clang, clang, swish_. Their swords crossed, again, and again, and the sound came so fast it was almost continual. Inigo pressed on, but the man in black retreated up a rocky incline.

"You are using Bonetti's defense against me, uh?" said Inigo obviously thrilled.

"I thought it fitting, considering the rocky terrain."

"Naturally, you must expect me to attack with Capo Ferro," said Inigo, shifting his fighting style.

The Dread Pirate Roberts was coping as best as he could and suddenly shifted his fighting style as well. "Naturally, but I find that Thibault cancels out Capo Ferro, don't you?" The man in black was now perched at the edge of the elevated castle ruin. With nowhere to go, he jumped to the sand.

Inigo stared down at him and said, "Unless the enemy has studied his Agrippa," And now, with the grace of an Olympian, Inigo flew off the perch, somersaulting clean over the Dread Pirate Roberts' head, and landed facing his opponent, "which I have!" The two men were almost flying across the rocky terrain, never losing balance, never coming close to stumbling; the battle raged with incredible finesse, first one and then the other gaining the advantage. And then, incredibly, the action began going even faster than before. And behind Inigo now, drawing closer all the time, was the deadly edge of the Cliffs of Insanity. Inigo fought, ducked, feinted, and slashed and it all worked, but not for long as gradually, the Dread Pirate Roberts kept the advantage, forcing Inigo back, closer and closer to death. "You are wonderful!"

"Thank you. I've worked hard to become so," replied the man in black.

The cliff edge was very close now and Inigo was continually being forced towards it. "I admit it, you are better than I am," he said with a large grin

"Then why are you smiling?" the Dread Pirate Roberts inquired suspiciously.

"Because I know something you don't know."

"And what is that?"

"I am not left-handed," Inigo declared. He tossed his sword into his right hand. The Dread Pirate Roberts was stunned, and was doing everything he could to keep Inigo by the cliff's edge, but it was no use. Slowly, he began to retreat up the steps of a rocky staircase leading to a turret-shaped plateau.

"You're amazing!" the man in black complimented his opponent.

"I ought to be after twenty years," Inigo replied, forcing the Dread Pirate Roberts towards a balcony and smashing him into a stone pillar.

"There is something I ought to tell you," the pirate grunted out.

"Tell me."

"I'm not left-handed either," said the Dread Pirate Roberts switching hands and flourishing his sword.

To his amazement, Inigo was being forced back down the steps, and soon his sword was knocked out of his hand. Inigo retreated, dove off the stairs to a moss-covered bar suspended over the archway. He swung out, landed, and scrambled to his sword. The Dread Pirate Roberts tossed his sword to the landing where it stuck perfectly, dove to the bar, swung over it like an acrobat and dismounted with a back flip.

Inigo stared in awe and asked, "Who are you?"

"No one of consequence," the Dread Pirate Roberts said with a smirk.

"I must know."

"Get used to disappointment."

With a shrug, Inigo replied, "Okay."

They continued to fight until the man in black knocked Inigo's sword from his hands. It flew up into the air and Inigo caught it once more. They fought a bit longer until Inigo lost his sword again, and he stood there helplessly for a moment before falling to his knees, bowing his head, and shutting his eyes.

"Kill me quickly," Inigo quietly begged.

The Dread Pirate Roberts circled Inigo, saying, "I would as soon destroy a stained-glass window as an artist like yourself. However, since I can't have you following me either..." He hit Inigo over the head with the hilt of his sword. Inigo crashed to the ground, out cold. "Please understand I hold you in the highest respect." He grabbed his scabbard and took off after Aralyne, Vizzini, and Fezzik.

* * *

><p>Vizzini was staring down from a narrow mountain path, as far below the Dread Pirate Roberts ran. Fezzik was carrying me and stood off to the side.<p>

"INCONCEIVABLE!" Vizzini yelled, spit flying from his lips. To the giant, he said, "Give her to me. Catch up with us quickly."

"What do I do?" Fezzik asked, me over to the short bald man.

"FINISH HIM, FINISH HIM! YOUR WAY!"

"Oh good, my way. Thank you, Vizzini," said Fezzik with a smile, but it faded as he thought with hands on hips. "Which way's my way?"

"Pick up one of those rocks, get behind the boulder. In a few minutes the man in black will come running around the bend. The minute his HEAD is in view, HIT IT WITH THE ROCK!" Vizzini roared before departing with me.

We had only left Fezzik about a minute ago, we I finally kicked Vizzini in the shin. He cried out in pain releasing me, and I took off running. That's all I had been waiting for, a chance to get away from the swordsman and the giant.

Unfortunately, something struck me on the back of my left leg, and I fell over in pain. Glancing back, I was horrified to see a knife sticking out of my limb, blood gushing out of it.

"That's a warning, girl," said Vizzini, catching up to me and yanking the knife out of my leg, "Next time, I'll aim for your heart."

Grabbing my arm, he hauled me to my feet, and dragged me off down the path.

* * *

><p>The men that had kidnapped Aralyne were just too interesting to Siren, but the man in black seemed oddly familiar. Instead of watching Fezzik, Vizzini, and Aralyne, she decided to observe the man in black. When he and Inigo were battling along the Cliffs of Insanity, the villainess tried to remember where she had seen this man before, but nothing was coming to mind.<p>

She froze the image in the crystal ball and studied the man in black. Everything about him seemed _so _familiar! His piercing blue eyes, his goatee, his stance, his frame.

Siren suddenly collapsed and hissed in pain as if she had just been stabbed in the back of her left leg. She glanced back to see blood welling out of a wound that hadn't been there a second before. _What was going on?!_ _What kind of voodoo magic was this?!_

* * *

><p>"My way's not very sportsmanlike," said Fezzik with a slight frown. He picked up a rock and hid behind a massive boulder.<p>

The Dread Pirate Roberts raced up the mountain trail. When he reached the bend in the path, he slowed to a cautious walk and a rock flew by, shattering on a boulder inches from his face. He quickly unsheathed his sword and turned in the direction he had seen the rock flying.

Fezzik came out of hiding, picking up another rock and said, "I did that on purpose. I don't have to miss."

"I believe you," said the pirate, "So what happens now?"

"We face each other as God intended... sportsmanlike. No tricks, no weapons, skill against skill alone," Fezzik said.

"You mean, you'll put down your rock and I'll put down my sword and we'll try and kill each other like civilized people?" the Dread Pirate Roberts inquired.

"I could kill you now," said Fezzik getting ready to throw the rock he held, but the man in black shook his head, removed his scabbard, dropped his sword, and approached towards the giant.

"Frankly, I think the odds are slightly in your favor at hand fighting," said the pirate eyeing the giant warily.

"It's not my fault being the biggest and the strongest. I don't even exercise," said Fezzik tossing his rock aside.

The Dread Pirate Roberts charged at Fezzik, throwing several blows to the stomach, twisted his arm severely, slipped skillfully into a bear hug, and tried taking him down. Fezzik just stood there watching until the man in black gave up for the moment.

"Look, are you just fiddling around with me or what?" the Dread Pirate Roberts demanded.

"I just want you to feel you're doing well. I hate for people to die embarrassed," Fezzik replied.

The giant jumped forward and the man in black dropped down and slipped between Fezzik's legs.

"You're quick," Fezzik remarked.

"And a good thing, too," the Dread Pirate Roberts added.

"Why are you wearing a mask?" Fezzik inquired swiping at him, "Were you burned by acid or something like that?" Swipe.

"Oh no, it's just they're terribly comfortable. I think everyone'll be wearing them in the future," the man in black replied. Swipe. The man in black slipped down to avoid the charge, and Fezzik moved along with him, but instead of twisting free and leaping to his feet, the Dread Pirate Roberts jumped on Fezzik's back, his arms around the giant's throat.

"I just figured why you give me so much trouble," Fezzik groaned out through his crushed windpipe, as he smashed the man in black against a boulder behind them.

"Why's that, do you think?" asked the man in black.

"Well, I haven't fought just one person for so long. Been specializing in groups. Battling gangs for local charities, that kind of thing." Smashed into another boulder.

"Why should that make such a..." Fezzik backed Dread Pirate Roberts into a boulder, knocking the pirate's breath out, "Difference?"

"Well, you see," replied Fezzik slowing down, "you use different moves when you're fighting half a dozen people than when you only have to be worried... about ... one."

The giant dropped unconscious to the ground. The Man in Black rolled him over and listened for a heartbeat.

"I do not envy you the headache you will have when you awake," said the Dread Pirate Roberts once he was satisfied that Fezzik would live, "But, in the meantime, rest well, and dream of large women." After jumping to his feet, he nimbly scooped up his sword with his foot, caught it and dashed up along the mountain path.

* * *

><p>After a certain point, Vizzini and I stopped, and he threw me onto a boulder. The bag he kept over his shoulder the entire time, he slipped off, and pulled out a tablecloth, placing it onto another boulder before me. He then set up two goblets, and placed a couple of apples and cheese beside them. Were we seriously going to have a picnic?<p>

I wanted to run, but with my leg still throbbing, I could barely stand. _Damn bastard!_

The next thing I knew, he sat beside me, putting a blindfold over my eyes, and I felt a knife prick my throat. I wondered what he was up to, but it wasn't long until I got my answer. Even though I couldn't see anything at the moment, I could hear everything.

"So it is down to you, and it is down to me," said Vizzini almost casually as someone slowly approached. By my guess, it had to be that man in black that had been following us. "If you wish her dead, by all means, keep moving forward." He pressed the knife harder against my throat and I hissed in pain.

"Let me explain," said the man in black.

"There's nothing to explain. You're trying to kidnap what I have rightfully stolen," said Vizzini.

"Perhaps an arrangement can be reached?" the man in black suggested.

"There will be no arrangement, and you're killing her," Vizzini warned jabbing me with his long knife. I gasped against the pain.

"Well if there can be no arrangement, then we are at an impasse," said the man in black sounding calm.

"I'm afraid so. I can't compete with you physically, and you're no match for my brains," bragged Vizzini.

"You're that smart?" inquired the man in black.

"Let me put it this way: have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?"

"Yes."

"Morons," Vizzini spat out.

"Really," said the Dread Pirate Roberts thoughtfully, "In that case, I challenge you to a battle of wits."

"For the girl?" inquired Vizzini, "To the death? I accept," Vizzini said happily, removing the weapon from my throat.

"Good," said the man in black, "Then pour the wine." I could hear the goblets being filled to the brim. "Inhale this, but do not touch."

Vizzini said, "I smell nothing."

"What you do not smell is called Iocane powder," the man in black explained, "It is odorless, tasteless, dissolves instantly in liquid, and is among the more deadly poisons known to man." There was a moment of silence. "All right. Where is the poison? The battle of wits has begun. It ends when you decide and we both drink, and find out who is right... and who is dead."

"But it's so simple," said Vizzini sounding as if he were the wisest person in the world, "All I have to do is divine from what I know of you: are you the sort of man who would put the poison into his own goblet or his enemy's? Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me."

"You've made your decision then?" inquired the man in black.

"Not remotely," Vizzini replied, "Because Iocane comes from Australia, as everyone knows, and Australia is entirely peopled with criminals, and criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you."

"Truly, you have a dizzying intellect," said the man in black sarcastically, but Vizzini missed the tone of voice. I smirked at the man's remark and it was lucky for me that my kidnapper didn't notice.

"WAIT TILL I GET GOING!" Vizzini cried, "Where was I?"

"Australia," the man in black said.

"Yes, Australia. And you must have suspected I would have known the powder's origin, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me," said Vizzini.

"You're just stalling now," the Dread Pirate Roberts said in half amusement, half frustration.

"YOU'D LIKE TO THINK THAT, WOULDN'T YOU?" yelled Vizzini, "You've beaten my giant, which means you're exceptionally strong, so you could've put the poison in your own goblet, trusting on your strength to save you, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But, you've also bested my Spaniard, which means you must have studied, and in studying you must have learned that man is mortal, so you would have put the poison as far from yourself as possible, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.

"You're trying to trick me into giving away something. It won't work," stated the man in black.

"IT HAS WORKED!" Vizzini declared in his loud voice, "YOU'VE GIVEN EVERYTHING AWAY! I KNOW WHERE THE POISON IS!"

"Then make your choice."

"I will, and I choose- What in the world can that be?" Vizzini exclaimed.

"What? Where?" inquired the man in black. "I don't see anything."

"Well, I- I could have sworn I saw something. No matter," said Vizzini.

"What's so funny?" the pirate asked suspiciously.

"I'll tell you in a minute. First, let's drink. Me from my glass, and you from yours," said Vizzini.

There was another moment of silence.

"You guessed wrong," said the Dread Pirate Roberts quietly.

"You only think I guessed wrong!" Vizzini cried out, laughing hysterically, "That's what's so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned! Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha—" He suddenly stopped laughing and I heard a thump beside me.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

The blindfold was removed from my eyes and I silently watched the man in black slice the ropes holding me. When his blue eyes locked with mine, he seemed a bit stunned, happy, and sad all at once.

"Who are you?" I inquired eyeing him suspiciously.

"I'm no one to be trifled with. That is all you ever need know," he replied.

"And to think, all that time it was your cup that was poisoned," I mused aloud looking at the two goblets.

"They were both poisoned," he explained, "I spent the last few years building up an immunity to Iocane powder. Come on." "He grabbed my arm and pulled me along. I kept up as best I could with my injured leg.

Along a grassy hilltop near a gulley we stopped running and he threw me down onto a rock. "Catch your breath," he said and I stared up at him. I was actually grateful for the chance to stop, and let my left leg rest for a bit.

"If you'll release me, whatever you ask for ransom, you'll get it, I promise you," I said hoping that all this guy wanted was money. I was sure that Grandpa would pay just to have me back.

The man in black chuckled and said, "And what is that worth, the promise of a child? You're very funny, girl."

I scowled at him and snapped, "My name is Aralyne, not _girl!_ And I was giving you a chance. It does not matter where you take me. Someone will save me!"

"You think someone will save you?" the man in black inquired, "Listen, Aralyne, _I'm_ the one saving you! I swore that I would take you to Nesidy and I intend to keep my word."

I retorted, "I don't give a damn about your promises! My friends will save me!"

"What? No true love?" asked the man in black and my scowl deepened, "Just about everyone here has a true love."

"That's none of your business!" I snapped.

"Did he walk out on you?" he asked in slight amusement as my temper flared, "Is that why you're so touchy on the subject? Did he even love you? Or was he even capable of love?"

I stood and glared daggers up at him. "No, he _didn't_ love me!" I snapped thinking of Eric, the only man I had ever been in a relationship with. "He was a _slimy_ _asshole_ just like yourself!"

The man in black raised a hand as if to slap me and I didn't even flinch. "That was a warning, girl. The next time my hand flies on its own, for where I come from, there are penalties when a woman lies."

I hissed out maliciously, "You can die slowly, cut into a thousand pieces."

For a moment, he seemed surprised and replied angrily, "You dare talk to the Dread Pirate Roberts that way?"

"Pirate?" I scoffed, "If you were truly a pirate, you wouldn't have rescued me. You would have killed me on the spot."

"I told you I swore I would return you to Nesidy," he snarled, "Otherwise, I _would_ have killed you! I mean once word leaks out that a pirate has gone soft, people begin to disobey you and then it's nothing but work, work, work all the time."

"Shut up!" I screeched, "You mock my pain!"

"Life _is _pain, Aralyne. Anyone who says differently is selling something," he retorted.

"You mocked me once. Never do it again!" I yelled, angry tears now forming in my eyes, "My heart died, that day!" I suddenly said in a more sinister voice, "And you can die too for all I care!" With all of my strength, I shoved the Dread Pirate Roberts down the hill. I didn't check to see what happened, but instead bolted for my life. With my damn leg, I didn't get very far when I heard footsteps charging after me, and knew he was hot on my trail.

The Dread Pirate Roberts suddenly wrapped his arms around me. I screamed and struggled, but my movements caused the both of us to topple over and roll down the hill all the way into the gulley. When we finally skid to a halt, both lying on our backs on the floor, I sat up and was about to jump to my feet and run when I saw the pirate's mask had fallen somewhere up on the hill, revealing his identity. I stared at him in surprise, thinking he was incredibly good-looking.

He sat up with a groan, and after realizing his mask was gone, he moved closer towards me placing a hand on my cheek.

"Aralyne, are you okay?" he inquired.

I slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me," I snapped, "If you're going to punish me for this, then do it! I can't run away, anyways!"

"Why would I punish you?" he asked in confusion, "I would never harm you, you know that."

"I _don't _know that! I don't even know you! For all I know you could be lying about returning me to Nesidy!"

The Dread Pirate Roberts blinked at me and said, "What do you _mean_ you don't _know _me?! I'm Tulio, remember?! The man that saved your life multiple times?! The man you're in _love _with?!"

I scoffed at him. "In _love _with you?! I've never seen you before today! What makes you think I would be in _love_ with _you?!_"

"You really don't remember," he said in hurt wonder, "What happened while I was gone? Is this some sort of spell? Lao Shi will know what to do!" He grasped me by the arm and yanked me to my feet. "Come on!"

The creep and I raced along the ravine floor until we made it to the entrance of some creepy looking swamp.

"I'm not going in _there_," I said not liking the look of our destination.

Tulio replied, "This is the fastest way to get to Nesidy. Lucky for you, that idiot got turned around and you ended up here in the country of Terra Viro instead of across the sea to Guilder. Nesidy should be a couple of hours' journey from the other end of the Fire Swamp." He dragged me into the Fire Swamp and Tulio looked around saying, "It's not that bad." I looked at him as if he were insane, which I was pretty sure he was. "Well, I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here, but the trees are actually quite lovely."

As we walked, there was a series of popping sounds, and fire shot out of the ground beside me. I screamed as the hem of my pajama shirt caught on fire, and the flames began licking my skin. Tulio quickly pulled out his sword and sliced off my shirt. The pieces fluttered to the ground, exposing me in my bra. I flushed, covering up my torso, and winced slightly when I felt the burn on my abdomen.

"Well now, that was an adventure," he said sheathing his sword and removing his jacket. I took a step back, flushing even more. "Don't worry," he added picking up what I was thinking. Tulio handed me his jacket and I gratefully pulled it on, to hide myself.

Taking hold of my hand he pulled me through the swamp. When there was another popping sound, Tulio pulled me aside to safety as another great flame spurt up out of the ground.

"Well, one thing I will say. The fire swamp certainly does keep you on your toes," he muttered.

As we traveled I snapped out at my psycho kidnapper, "I can't _believe _you're taking me through here! It's dangerous and stupid! Why couldn't we have just gone around the Fire Swamp instead? That way I wouldn't have been burned or even lost my favorite shirt! And the burn _hurts!_"

Tulio ignored my attitude and said, "Once we're out of here, we'll be closer to Nesidy and there we can get you medical attention. I saw the burn, and it's not that bad. You can endure pain for just a couple more hours." There was another popping sound again. Tulio simply picked me up and moved me out of danger as a spurt of flame appeared where I had been standing moments before.

"You're such an asshole!" I snapped pulling away from him, "You just want to get rid of me faster, and don't care if I end up dying in the process! You only care about yourself!"

Tulio had pulled out his sword and paused for a moment at my words before slicing a path through some vines. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on! I'm not stupid!" I said when he had sheathed his sword and lifted me up into his arms to carry me across some swamp water that was bridged by a narrow rickety tree branch. "The _only_ reason you're helping me is because you're expecting some sort of reward! You said I'm in _love _with you! Is that it? You want me to _fall _for you? And why? To say you're dating Incantaionen's savior?"

Keeping a straight face, Tulio set me down, and I quickly pulled away from him. It didn't matter how many times this man saved me on this adventure! He would _never_ have my heart! I took a step forward and the ground gave way, causing me to disappear beneath a pile of sand.

It felt like I was sinking in thick grainy water, and I couldn't see or hear anything! The sand filled my ears, and nose, and some even got in my mouth. _Great! I'm going to die in quicksand!_ Something wrapped around my waist, and I was suddenly pulled upward. Tulio and I emerged from the pit gasping for air and coughing.

I sprawled out on the ground hacking up sand and moaned out, "We're going to die!"

"No, no," he said in a calm voice, "We have already succeeded." He helped me up and continued leading me through the swamp. "I mean, what are the three terrors of the fire swamp? One, the flame spurt. No problem. There's a popping sound preceding each, we can avoid that. Two, the lightning sand, but you were clever enough to discover what that looks like, so in the future we can avoid that too. And lastly, there are the R.O.U.S.s."

"What are R.O.U.S.s?" I inquired.

"Rodents Of Unusual Size," he replied nonchalantly "But don't worry, I don't think they exist."

An R.O.U.S. suddenly appeared and pounced on Tulio. He was pinned under the giant rodent, trying to fend it off, but couldn't. The rat's teeth sank deep into his arm, causing Tulio to howl in pain. Not giving up on the fight, Tulio punched the beast's face, causing it to back off, setting its captive free. Tulio stretched his arm out towards his sword, but the Rodent of Unusual Size leaped onto his back again. Tulio flipped the rodent off him, and scrambled for his sword. The rat suddenly changed direction, heading for a new target: me. I was frozen in fear, having never seen a rat that size before.

"Tulio!" I screeched backing up when the rat neared me. Tulio forgot about his sword and grabbed the rodent's tail instead, before wrestling with it. I grasped a branch and used it as a club, beating the beast. The rodent clamped its jaws around my ankle, and I screamed in pain, falling over on my backside as I lost the branch. Tulio jumped onto the giant rat's back and yanked it away from me. They wrestled on the ground for a bit, with the rodent biting Tulio's shoulder. A popping noise caught his attention, and knowing what it meant, he rolled towards the sound until a flame spurt shot skyward, roasting the R.O.U.S. that had been placed there on purpose. With the giant rat distracted, Tulio pulled himself free, grabbed his sword, and stabbed the rodent until it collapsed onto the ground dead.

After sheathing his sword again, Tulio helped me up and supported me as we walked the rest of the way out of the Fire Swamp. After about another half hour, we finally exited the swamp and entered a lightly wooded area.

"We did it," I said in relief, happy to be out of there.

"Now, was that so terrible?" Tulio inquired before we continued on down towards Nesidy with him helping me the entire way as I hobbled about on my injured ankle and leg.

After travelling in silence for a couple of hours, Tulio and I arrived in Nesidy. _So he was telling the truth! Well, about returning me to Nesidy, anyway._ Those that had been out on the street saw us and stopped in their tracks, staring.

I saw Captain Phoebus run off, to go find Grandpa, no doubt.

We got to the hospital, and inside we ran into Doctor Ann Possible, Kim Possible's mother.

"Tulio?" she said in surprise, gaping at him, "Wha-?"

He cut her off and nodded towards me, "Help her. She was burned, stabbed, and bitten by an R.O.U.S."

Doctor Possible took me from him and said, "You'd better come with me, too, Tulio. That bite looks nasty." He looked down at his shoulder and shrugged, following us. We entered a room where Doctor Possible began looking over me, and some other doctor bandaged up Tulio.

When he was all fixed up, he looked at me and said, "I'll be talking to Lao Shi if you need me."

_Yeah right, like I would actually _need_ you!_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

_(Brief lyrics in this chapter is from the song "Secret" by The Pierces.)_

Siren sat on the floor in shock, using her magic to heal her left leg and clean off the blood. While she tested out her leg to make sure it worked correctly, she suddenly felt a burning sensation on her lower abdomen. Since she always wore revealing clothing, she glanced down to see her skin flaming red almost as if it had been licked by fire. This wound wasn't as bad as the one on her leg, but it irritated her.

The villainess placed a cold hand over her abdomen, and healed the burn. Once she was sure everything was in working order, she stood up, intending to return to her crystal ball, but without warning, pain shot up her leg starting at her ankle. Looking back down she was horrified to see teeth marks covered in blood.

_What the hell is going on?!_

* * *

><p>As Tulio made his way through Nesidy, he noticed everyone looking worn out as they gaped at him. And the place looked a mess as if some sort of battle had just taken place.<p>

"Tulio?" someone finally said. He turned to see Danny Fenton looking sickly, and almost terrified. The teenager ran after him.

"Hey, Danny. Are you okay? You don't look so good."

Danny ignored the question and said, "You're alive. Does Aralyne...?"

"About that," said Tulio coming to a halt and turning to Danny. The teenager suddenly looked like he was going to vomit and seemed even more terrified. _Strange._ "Something's wrong. She doesn't remember me at all. Did something happen while I was gone? You're her best friend. You should know."

Danny's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. His eyes widened and he suddenly hunched over, throwing up on the street.

Tulio took a step back in surprise and placed a hand on the kid's shoulder. "Hey, maybe you should get to the hospital? I had just left Aralyne there, and I'll take you before meeting Lao Shi."

"N-No. No," Danny shakily said wiping his mouth clean of excess puke, "I have to talk to Grandpa, too."

"Maybe that's not such a good ide-"

"I _have_ to!" Danny insisted. "I can't _take it_ anymore!" He took off running and Tulio followed him.

"Danny, wait!"

They came to City Hall and Danny ran inside, bursting into Grandpa's office, Tulio right behind him. Inside the office, Grandpa was talking to Phoebus.

"Tulio," said Grandpa without surprise, "Phoebus said you were here, and alive no less. Danny, why the sudden intrusion?"

"Grandpa, I can't handle it anymore!" Danny got straight to the point now looking as if he were going to cry, "I have to tell Aralyne! The nightmares! I can't -"

"Tell Aralyne _what?_" Tulio demanded rounding on the teenager once more, his eyes now narrowing in suspicion.

"Tulio's return changes nothing," said Grandpa sternly, "You will _not_ utter a word to her about this. Am I understood?" Danny paled even more and shut his mouth, nodding, the light fading from his eyes. Satisfied with the teenager's answer, Grandpa turned to Tulio and said, "There are some things I need to explain to you, but that will have to wait until after you explain some things to me."

"If this is about Aralyne I have to know _now_," Tulio said.

"_It can wait_," said Grandpa, "Now, how are you alive?"

Tulio scowled and answered the question. "I myself am often surprised at life's little quirks. See, after Captain Hook had knocked me into the ocean, I swam as far as I could, nearly freezing to death, when out of the fog, I saw a pirate ship. At first, I had thought it belonged to Hook or Silver, but I was wrong. It belonged to the Dread Pirate Roberts. His men had fished me out of the water and were about to kill me, when I simply said, _Please... please, I need to live_. It was the _please_ that caught his attention. He asked what was so important for me here. _True Love_, I replied. And then I spoke of a girl of surpassing beauty and faithfulness." Danny flinched. "What I told you about saying _please_ was true," Tulio continued wanting to get to the subject of Aralyne, "It intrigued Roberts, as did my description of Aralyne's beauty. Finally, Roberts decided something. He said, _All right, Tulio, I've never had a valet, you can try it for tonight. I'll most likely kill you in the morning._ Three weeks he said that. _Good night, Tulio. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning_. I swear, I wanted to return home, but he wouldn't let me out of his sight for very long. Roberts and I eventually became friends. And then it happened."

"What? Go on," Phoebus urged after Tulio paused for a moment.

"Well, Roberts had grown so rich, he wanted to retire," Tulio continued, "So he took me to his cabin, and told me his secret. _I am not the Dread Pirate Roberts_, he said. _My name is Westley. I inherited the ship from the previous Dread Pirate Roberts, just as you will inherit it from me. The man I inherited it from was not the real Dread Pirate Roberts either. His name was Ryan. The real Roberts has been retired fifteen years and living like a King in Patagonia_. Then he explained that the name was the important thing for inspiring the necessary fear. You see, no one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Tulio. So we sailed ashore, took on an entirely new crew, and he stayed aboard for a while as first mate, all the time calling me Roberts. Once the crew believed, he left the ship, and I have been Roberts ever since. Is everything clear to you?"

"I see," said Grandpa simply.

"Now about Aralyne," said Tulio earnestly, "What is it you're not letting Danny tell her? And why can't she remember me?"

"The two questions are connected," Grandpa replied, "She doesn't remember because I had all of her memories of you erased."

"You _what?!_" Tulio exclaimed feeling his heart drop. "_Why?!_" Anger coursing through him, he turned to the teenager once more. "_You_ allowed this to _happen?!_ I thought you were her _friend!_"

Danny's eyes glazed over and he muttered only loud enough for Tulio to hear:

_"Got a secret_

_Can you keep it?_

_Swear this one you'll save"_

"Tulio, calm down and I'll explain," Grandpa said calmly. Tulio turned his back on the teenager who was still muttering nonsense under his breath.

_"Better lock it in your pocket_

_Taking this one to the grave"_

"We thought you were dead, especially since we couldn't find your body. When I told Aralyne, she was devastated. And that's when Siren showed up.

_Siren?!_ Tulio's eyes widened in horror.

_"If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said_

_'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"_

"What do you mean _Siren_ showed up?!" Tulio demanded, "Aralyne said she was gone when we got her heart back!"

_"Why do you smile like you've been told a secret?_

_Now you're telling lies 'cause you have sworn to keep it"_

"We don't know how, but Siren managed to get her own body. She had tried killing Aralyne while she was down, but Danny protected her. Siren left, but not before swearing she would return."

_"But no one keeps a secret_

_No one keeps a secret"_

"Aralyne had hit a depression and locked herself up in your house for days. I had Hatori Sohma erase her memories of you."

* * *

><p>While Doctor Possible was cleaning up the wound on my leg - <em>damn that Vizzini! <em>- I peered out of the room that I was in and noticed many others being treated for wounds.

"Doctor Possible, did something happen while I was gone?" I inquired turning my attention back to her.

She paused for a moment before answering, "Yes, but it's hard to explain."

"What do you mean?" I pushed on, "What happened?"

"Other than those working at the Benbow Inn, many others on the street saw you being kidnapped by Hook. Everything was chaos as everyone ran around Nesidy to spread the news and try to rescue you. All of a sudden Belle moved about the town with a knife stabbing people. Something was wrong with her; her skin was an unearthly pale and her eyes were glowing black as if she were under some sort of spell." I sat there horrified not sure if I wanted to hear more. Doctor Possible continued, "Jim Hawkins - the poor kid - he's been traumatized for life. He, John Smith, and Captain Amelia all had ropes and managed to pin down Belle, but when she moved, she broke free, and the rope around her throat snapped her neck." I felt sick. Belle _dead?!_ "She kept moving forward and when everyone realized they were no longer dealing with Belle, but some sort of zombie, they all grabbed weapons to kill her, but she vanished into thin air."

By then she had finished her job and I was allowed to go with bandages around my abdomen, leg, and ankle. "Thank you, Doctor Possible," I said before leaving. I hobbled as fast as I could out of the hospital and headed straight for City Hall. I had to talk to Grandpa right away!

When I arrived, I heard Grandpa talking to Tulio, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. Curious, I stopped right outside the door, and hid just out of sight, peering out at them from around the corner. Grandpa looked a bit worried, Phoebus watched the exchange eagerly, Tulio looked angry, and Danny... Danny didn't look so good. In fact, he looked _worse _than the last time I saw him, and he was muttering something under his breath that I could barely hear.

_"__Why when we do our darkest deeds do we tell?_

_They burn in our brains, become a living hell"_

"If I didn't do it, then Siren would have _killed_ her by now! She's the _only_ one that can stop Siren, and I'll have her memories erased again if it keeps Aralyne on the right track!"

I silently gasped at the news. Grandpa had my memories erased? But _why?_ I felt hurt by the betrayal.

_"Because everybody tells_

_Everybody tells"_

"_How _can you do that to her?" Tulio snapped surprising me, "She's only _nineteen!_ All she wants to do is live her life!" He reached into his pocket and showed whatever he had in there to the others. Unfortunately, I couldn't see what it was. Phoebus cocked an eyebrow in interest, Grandpa looked sorry, and Danny suddenly stopped muttering, his eyes widening.

"Were you..." Grandpa's voice trailed off.

"Yes," Tulio replied quietly.

"Grandpa, we _have_ to tell her!" my best friend proclaimed.

_So Danny knows about my memories being erased?!_ The betrayal stabbed at me once more, and I had to blink back tears.

"No," Grandpa said, "We're not telling her anything. With what happened recently, we can't let her be distracted. She has to prepare a fight with Siren."

"At least allow me to try and win her heart," Tulio begged putting whatever he held back into his pocket.

"Fine," said Luong Lao Shi, "You can _try_, but if she loses focus on her mission -"

I had heard enough. Not only did he have my memories erased and the whole town was now hiding that little fact from me, but now he was basically _giving_ me to this Tulio. "How dare you!" I snarled walking into the room, and they all looked at me in surprise, "All of you, standing around deciding _my _future? I am _not _someone to be manipulated for your own gain!" I turned on my heel and stormed out of the office.

* * *

><p>"Trust me! This time I'm <em>sure<em> I've got it right," Morgana declared as she and her mini-shark sidekick Undertow were in their icy lair. Morgana was trying to create a potion to make the shark his normal size again since she had accidentally shrunk him a couple of months ago.

"Yeah, that's what you said last time, and I was sore for a week," Undertow grumbled.

"Oh, stop your carping and stand still," she said aiming for him.

"Oh, this is gonna hurt," he whimpered right as she shot her magic into the potion bowl, and a light struck the shark. At first he began to grow, and Morgana laughed in delight, but then he shrank back to the puny size. Becoming frustrated, the sea witch threw potion bottles into the bowl, and the light continued to strike him, turning him into a myriad of other sea creatures until he reverted back to a miniature shark.

"Oh, it's just no use," Morgana said in despair, "The power is just too strong for me to overcome."

"I bet Ursula could've done it," Undertow muttered.

"_What_ was that you _said?_" she snarled angrily, rounding on him. Morgana didn't want her sister's name mentioned around her. When they were brought back to life by Chernabog, Ursula had blamed Morgana for their deaths, and Morgana had left, not wanting to be near her sister ever again.

Undertow replied, "Nothin'. I'm just sayin'..."

"Stop criticizing me!" she shrieked throwing a bottle at him, but missed and it smashed against the wall, "That's all my mother ever did was criticize me! It was always _Ursula this_ or _Ursula that_... or, _Morgana, why can't you be more like your sister... Ursula!_"

"Well, it isn't Ursula's fault I got miniaturized. It's _yours!_" Undertow shot at her.

"Is not!" she retaliated.

"Your fault that we had to hide out here for several frostbitten months."

"Is not!"

"Your fault that we can never show our faces in polite society again!"

"You're really pushing it, small fry," she snarled into his face.

Suddenly a magic bubble formed before them, grabbing their attention, and inside the bubble, they could see Danny Fenton trying to talk to a girl with shoulder-length, curly, dark brown hair and golden brown eyes.

"_Aralyne, please talk to me."_

"_No! You lied to me, Danny, and I can't forgive that!"_

The two villains exchanged evil sneers and Morgana said, "This is just the kind of break in the ice we've been waiting for. When Aralyne finds out all of the truths the others have been hiding... she's going to have lots of questions. And who'll be right there with all the answers?"

"We will," Undertow said eagerly eyeing the sword strapped to Aralyne's back. He knew what the sword was and the power it possessed.

"Exactly! She'll be the perfect tool for her own undoing," Morgana said.

"And I'll get to be big again," the shark added with glee.

"Finally I'll succeed at the one thing the other villains never could," said Morgana.

"Really, really big again!"

"Total domination of the seas!" Morgana crowed.

"I'll be huge!"

The two villains laughed and danced around the lair.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

_(Brief song lyrics in this chapter is from "Secret" by The Pierces.)_

It was the day after I found out Grandpa had my memories erased, and Danny had been bugging me for the past twenty-four hours to talk to him.

"Leave me _alone_, Danny!" I snapped leaving the Benbow Inn with Excalibur strapped to my back. No way I was going out there again without some sort of weapon.

"Aralyne, please talk to me."

"No! You lied to me, Danny, and I can't forgive that!"

"_They burn in our brains, become a living hell_," he muttered, sweat pouring down his sickly pale face.

A part of me felt bad, especially since he was sick, but I was hurt and angry that he would lie to me, especially about my memories being erased. Since I now knew _everyone_ kept this secret from me, I didn't want to be near anyone. I wanted to be alone, so I quickened my pace, leaving him behind and went towards the beach. Once there, I rented out a rowboat so I could go out to sea without being disturbed.

As soon as I was far enough away from land, I sat in the boat and listened to the waves as the boat gently rocked back and forth. It was so calm and peaceful out here. Running my fingers through the water, I wished to get away from Nesidy and all the liars.

* * *

><p>"Oh, this is delicious. This is divine!" said Morgana gleefully as she watched Aralyne row out to sea through her magic bubble.<p>

"Let's go, flatsos," said Undertow to the two manta rays, Cloak and Dagger.

The three fish swam out of the lair and Morgana called out to them, "Hurry, Undertow. There's a little girl out there who needs our help."

* * *

><p>I didn't know how long I was just lounging about in the boat, but suddenly, it began moving on its own. Panicking, I tried rowing back to shore, but made no progress and tried screaming for help until my voice gave out. No one was able to hear me! What if I drifted for days before anyone realized I was gone and died of starvation and dehydration?! I couldn't swim back to shore either! If any of the sea creatures saw me, they would report me to King Triton and he swore he would kill me if I returned! Yes, I had excalibur, but I could never use it on anyone good! What was I to do?!<p>

* * *

><p>Under the ocean, Sebastian was swimming towards King Triton's palace when he heard someone screaming above the water. Curious, he looked up to see two manta rays and a tiny shark pulling a boat. Swimming upward and making sure the three others didn't see him, the crab snuck his way onto the boat to see Aralyne.<p>

Realizing what was happening, he snuck back off and swam towards Nesidy. Despite Triton's orders of not associating with those on land - especially Aralyne - he couldn't leave her in trouble! He was trying not to panic, speaking to himself, "All right, Sebastian, you must remain calm. This is not your fault. All you have to do is go in there and calmly explain that Aralyne is being kidnapped. No reason to lose your head. Whatever you do... you absitively, positutely... must not panic."

Right as he got onto the beach, he saw Tulio and heard him call out, "Aralyne?" He gasped and ran towards him, yelling.

* * *

><p>When Tulio got up the next morning, he went over to the Benbow Inn to see Aralyne, knowing how angry she was. When he arrived, he found Danny standing just outside the building looking distraught.<p>

"She's not here," Danny said before coughing. He gained composure and added, "She just left and won't talk to me."

Tulio shot him an angry look, and walked off. _She's not the only one furious with you_. He finally came across Baloo the bear who told him he saw Aralyne going towards the beach. Thanking him for the info, Tulio sprinted towards the beach and got there in a manner of minutes.

He had only called out Aralyne's name once when he heard a voice shouting, "Aralyne's gone! Aralyne's gone! Aralyne's gone!" Then felt a tug on his pant leg.

Glancing down he said in mild surprise, "Sebastian? Well, what are you doing here?"

"All my fault!" he wailed, sobbing into Tulio's pants, "I didn't rescue her! I don't deserve to live!"

"Gone? Gone where?" Tulio asked in concern, feeling his heart sink with dread.

"Out. Out to the sea," the crab explained, "She's being kidnapped!" He then blew his nose on Tulio's pants, and the man had to hide his disgust.

Tulio suddenly realized what Sebastian said. "What do you mean? Who could be kidnapping her? Where would they take her?"

* * *

><p>"To Morgana's," said Undertow with a wicked smile. Getting tired of my constant shouts for help, he finally revealed himself to me along with Cloack and Dagger.<p>

"And she can tell me the truth, everything my friends have been keeping from me?" I asked in disbelief. The last time I had met Morgana, she was trying to turn me over to the Evil One.

"Oh, sure, kid. Morgana's the best. She'll help ya," Undertow agreed.

I bit my lip in thought for a moment before nodding. "Okay. Then let's go." _What an odd twist. I am now trusting villains than I am my own friends._

Cloak and Dagger pulled me even further across the ocean right as fog descended upon the water, hiding us from view. After a while in silence, it became supremely cold, and I shivered, partially glad I decided to wear Tulio's black jacket over the outfit modeled after Kim Possible's. We entered an icy cavern where Morgana sat on a strip of ice, waiting.

"Angel face, meet the one and only... Morgana," said Undertow.

"Oh, welcome, my precious," Morgana gushed as she helped me out of the boat and onto the ice, "Oh, don't be shy. Come in. Come in out of the cold. Sit, sit. Put your – feet – up. Hungry?" She pulled out a tray filled with an assortment of disgusting-looking seafood. "Afraid all I have is a cold plate. Smelt-cicle? Kelp chip? Hush guppy?"

"Uh, no, thank you," I said politely trying not to show how much I wanted to vomit, "I was hoping you could tell me about my missing memories... My friends wouldn't tell me. They just doesn't understand."

"Oh, you're not the only one with people who don't understand you," Morgana said sympathetically, "Believe me, I know just how you feel. Dear child, did you ever consider your memories were erased because your destiny is waiting for you? Oh, deep down... you know you weren't meant to be a lowly normal human. What you are is something... far more enchanting."

Using her magic, she conjured up a magical bubble and inside was an image of me dressed as a queen standing beside the ocean. When I jumped into the water, my dress disappeared and my legs transformed into a green tail.

"A mermaid?" I said incredulously, but then shook my head, my tone becoming more somber, "But it's not possible. Only magic can turn me into a mermaid, you know that. And besides, I'm not allowed to be near or in the ocean. King Triton will have me killed if he found out I'm even out this far."

Morgana laughed and replied, "Darling, anything's possible. And Triton doesn't have spies out this far. You can relax and enjoy yourself here."

"You're going to turn me into a mermaid, again?" I asked.

"Piece of fish cake, honey," said Morgana making the bubble vanish.

"Lots of luck," Undertow muttered, rolling his eyes as he watched Morgana move over to a shelf of potions. When the witch pulled out a glowing magenta bottle, he gasped out, "Ursula's magic? Where'd you get that?"

"I've been saving it for a special occasion," Morgana explained returning to my side, "One drop of this and, bada-bing, bada-boom! You're in fin city! Whee!"

"Really?" I asked, barely able to contain my excitement. I did enjoy being a mermaid the last time I was one.

"Come, my darling. Your destiny awaits you," said Morgana pouring a drop of the potion onto my leg. A green light surrounded the lower half of my body, and when the light faded, I had a purple tail again.

"I don't believe it! I'm a mermaid!" I squealed out in glee fingering my fins.

"Say it loud, say it proud!" crowed Morgana.

"I'm a mermaid!" I shouted diving into the ocean.

* * *

><p>Once she was out of sight, Undertow growled to Morgana, "You had this all along. You coulda changed me back. Why, I oughta..."<p>

"Keep your scales on, small fry," said the sea witch slipping into the water after the teenager, "I'm still reeling her in."

* * *

><p>Tulio had managed to borrow Captain Amelia's boat and sailed out for a bit, searching for Aralyne. Flynn Rider was there to help.<p>

"I'm so worried," Tulio muttered as he gazed out over the foggy ocean.

"Everything's going to be all right, Tulio. We have search parties scouring the ocean. We'll find her," Flynn reassured him.

* * *

><p>"It's great to be a mermaid again!" I exclaimed as I swam throughout the ocean interacting with other sea creatures.<p>

I swam by a school of fish watching them stick close together, and felt a pang, wishing I my friends hadn't lied to off, I watched as a couple of baby seals dove into the water to swim, excitement bubbling within me. Swimming to a rock I plucked a yellow flower from it tucked it into my hair. As the sun set, I rode on the back of a whale, enjoying the view.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!" I exclaimed swimming right up to Morgana and giving the sea witch a big hug.

"Oh!" Morgana began to cry.

"What's the matter?" I inquired with concern pulling away.

"Oh, I knew this would happen," Morgana sobbed, "One taste, and you're hooked. Oh, Undertow, I'm such a failure, such a..." Undertow was crying as well and handed Morgana a handkerchief which she used to blow her nose. "Oh, my precious... there wasn't enough potion for this to be a forever spell."

I felt my heart drop and begged, "Please. I-I don't want to go back to Nesidy to be pawn. Isn't there some way I can stay a mermaid?"

"Oh, I'm afraid there's absolutely no possible way," said Morgana then suddenly added, "Well, there is one way. No. What am I thinking? It's far too dangerous."

"What? Wh... What's too dangerous?" I demanded.

Morgana replied, "Well, I could make the spell last longer... if I had all of the ingredients for the potion. All I'm missing is a special charm." Using the ink from her tentacles, she created a picture of the charm; it was some sort of necklace made of pearls and a seashell with a crescent moon carved in the front.

"Maybe I could get it for you," I suggested.

"You would do that for me?" Morgana asked in surprise.

"If I did, would you make me a mermaid forever?" I begged.

"Even longer, if you like," said Morgana with a smile. Using her magic, she then created a map out of ice and handed it to me. "Now, this map will show you where to find the charm."

Gazing at the map, my eyes widened when I saw a little dot labeled, Atlantica. "Atlantica?" I gasped in horror, looking up at the sea witch, "You mean I'll have to sneak into the city to get the charm?" _Do you want to be a mermaid or not?!_ Shaking my head, I added, "Okay, I'll bring the charm. You can count on me!"

As I swam off with the map, Morgana called out, "Be careful, dear. Enjoy those fins!"

* * *

><p>Siren had been watching Aralyne again through the crystal ball and quickly realized what Morgana was up to. With an evil smile, she decided to create a little bit more chaos. Of course, she would have loved to see Aralyne's face when she caught a glimpse of the zombie creatures, but c'est la vie.<p>

Now, it wouldn't be much fun if she kept using Belle over and over again until she was eventually destroyed. It was time to test out her powers and see how far they could extend.

The villainess transported herself back to Nesidy, hiding again in an alleyway. Everyone went about their day as usual, but looked a bit worried. It seemed their precious savior just kept getting kidnapped again.

With an evil smirk, Siren pointed the palm of her hands down and focused on her power. The ground shook, and she heard yelps of surprise at what the heroes thought was an earthquake. The ground beside Siren suddenly split open issuing an eerie glowing green light. Out of the abyss came a decrepit hand with maggots poking out of the skin, and pretty soon Pocahontas's dead body had completely emerged with glowing red eyes, and carrying a bow, quiver full of arrows, and a hatchet was tied at her hip.

"Go out and kill, my little pet," Siren sneered evilly. Zombie Pocahontas nodded once and walked off into Nesidy. It didn't take very long for her to start firing arrows at random citizens, and for the screaming to start. In all honesty, how often did you come across a zombie in Nesidy other than that goody-goody corpse bride, Emily?

Remaining hidden, Siren followed the path of destruction. Zombie Pocahontas had already killed George Darling, Prince Thomas (from Cinderella), and Bolt with her arrows. Once she had run out of those, she tossed aside her bow and empty quiver, and pulled out her hatchet. John Rolfe rushed forward with a sword to kill her, but the zombie threw the hatchet and it sliced off his head. Rolfe's head rolled to a halt at her feet, and she picked it up, tying it to her waist by the hair. She slowly made her way to her hatchet and picked it up.

For a second, Siren was worried when Proteus snuck up behind Pocahontas with his own sword, but she automatically swivelled around and chopped off his head as well. Just like she had done with Rolfe, she tied Proteus's head to her waist. Siren laughed out loud, no longer worried if anyone saw her.

"Siren?!" Mushu cried seeing the villainess, "This is _your_ doing?! Man, I gotta stop this!" He ran over to Pocahontas and bit the zombie's leg, hoping to slow her down, but to no avail. The mini dragon spat out black blood. "That is nasty!"

Sobering up, Siren said, "That's enough destruction for today. Ta-ta, tiny dragon. I'll be playing with _you_ next time!" With a puff of red smoke, she disappeared and sent Pocahontas to the dungeon with Belle.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

_(Song in this chapter is "Fathoms Below" from the movie "The Little Mermaid".)_

I had gone pretty far when I saw a familiar fish and crab ahead of me swimming in the same direction. These two, I knew I could trust.

"Sebastian, Flounder, wait!" I called out quickly swimming to them.

"Aralyne!" Flounder exclaimed swimming into my arms, "You're back!"

I gave him a quick hug then explained why I was there (leaving out the bit about Morgana turning me into a mermaid. I lied saying a friend was helping me get my memories back) and asked him and the crab if they would help me.

"Wild seahorses couldn't stop me!" Flounder said while Sebastian nodded.

As we swam towards Atlantica, we passed through a miniature kelp forest and Sebastian said, "I don't remember this much kelp when we came through here this morning."

A piece of kelp suddenly slapped my behind (do mermaids even have butts?) and I shoved it back, becoming suspicious. Kelp wasn't this thick or animal-like.

"Kelp, schmelp," said Flounder pretending to be brave, "I ain't afraid of these overgrown weeds." He began doing some underwater karate moves, destroying some kelp. "Hi-yah! Take that! And that!" When he hit one kelp, it didn't bust, and he tried again with the same result. We all looked up to see a bunch of sinister looking eels glaring down at us.

"Guys?" said Sebastian in a squeaky tone, "That ain't kelp!" The eels charged for us. "Go, go, go, go!" The three of us swam for our lives towards some sort of underwater rock tower. Sebastian stopped on a ledge and told Flounder and me, "Keep going!" Not wanting to leave the crab behind, I stopped, and watched him shove a boulder off the ledge towards the eels. Unfortunately, they dodged, and came after me and Flounder, leaving Sebastian alone.

The fish and I swam towards some sort of cavern. "This way. Quick!" I panted becoming tired from all of the exercise. Man I was out of shape! "Where's Sebastian?" I inquired when we ducked behind a column. The eels were searching for us, and I held Flounder close when they swam by, thankfully not finding us. Flounder suddenly hiccuped, grabbing the eels' attention, and he screamed as I shoved him away so we could continue fleeing for our lives, entering a cave. Flounder and I hit a dead end and he clutched onto my arms, keeping me from reaching back for Excalibur.

Suddenly, octopus arms reached down from a hole above us, and pulled the both of us out of the cavern.

"Now!" the octopus shouted and off to the side, I saw a Manta Ray and a sea turtle launch a blow fish across the ocean, hitting a column. That column broke, striking another, and it caused a domino effect until the last column landed in the hole right as the eels were trying to come out.

"Awesome!" Flounder exclaimed right as the Manta Ray, turtle, and the blow fish came to join us.

"They hurtin' for certain," said the Manta Ray, who introduced himself as Ray-Ray.

The turtle agreed and his name was Shelbow. The blow fish, Cheeks, just laughed.

As Flounder and I pulled away from Ink Spot, the octopus, I said, "Sebastian's still back there!"

"Follow me!" Flounder cried swimming away, and we did, with the other sea creatures speaking at once.

"Let's go."

"Right in your wake, kid."

I had forgotten, there was another entrance/exit to the cave and choked back a scream when the eels suddenly appeared before us, snarling.

When one got right in my face, Flounder slapped its face with his tail and demanded, "How do you like that?" The eel obviously didn't like that and went after him. Flounder took off, screaming.

"Flounder!" I cried, about to go after them, but then the rest of the eels surrounded us. As the eels inched closer, I pulled out Excalibur, ready to use it. Hearing my friend's scream, I saw Flounder return, still trying to dodge the eel chasing him.

"Hey! Flounder at twelve o'clock!" Ink Spot shouted.

"12:04, actually," Shelbow corrected.

"Flounder!" I shouted, keeping one eye on him and the other on the eels before us. I swiped at one of the eels that tried taking a bite out of Ray-Ray, and it backed off, hissing at me. Recalling when I spent time with Flounder the first time I was a mermaid, he showed me some swimming tricks. "Do the corkscrew!"

"Break out all the utensils," said Shelbow right as Flounder started spinning around just like a corkscrew. He weaved around the eels, as one continued to follow him, and I saw Sebastian hanging onto its tail for dear life. We all began cheering him on.

"Who the fish?"

"That's it."

"Go, Flounder! Go, go!"

The eels got twisted around into a knot, and they were unable to go after any of us.

"Yeah, mon, just like we planned it," said Sebastian releasing the eel's tail.

"Way to go, Flounder, you did it!" I exclaimed, returning Excalibur to its scabbard as we all swam over to him.

"We did it, mon," said Sebastian giving Flounder a high-five.

"We sure did," Flounder agreed.

As we began swimming away, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the knot of eels struggling to move, and hit a column. It suddenly teetered over, heading straight for the crab.

"Sebastian!" I screamed heading for him.

"Look out!" Flounder shouted.

Before the column could hit the crab, I got between it and him. I felt it strike my back, and I lost consciousness as I felt myself drifting to the ocean floor….

* * *

><p>Ink Spot quickly swam over and caught Aralyne before she could hit the ground.<p>

"Is she going to be okay?" Flounder asked full of concern.

"We need to get her to Atlantica! Quickly!" Sebastian exclaimed, and the six sea creatures swam her over to the underwater city as fast as possible.

Upon arriving, they took her straight to the palace to King Triton and Queen Athena.

"Aralyne!" said the Queen, recognizing the girl right away as she was set upon the floor.

"Sebastian, what is _she _doing here?!" Triton roared, "You know as well as I do, that _she_ was the one that killed Ariel!"

"Your Majesty, please!" Sebastian quickly said, "She's searching for a charm for a potion to help get her memories back, which have been erased, and she got injured saving my life!"

"At least allow her the time to rest until she's better," Athena said placing a hand upon her husband's arm, "Don't forget we had taken her in once before."

"Very well," said Triton reluctantly, "but _only _to rest! She must be placed in the dungeon after that to await her trial!" He pulled Excalibur off her back and gave it to a sword fish. "Lock this up. I don't want her having any weapons."

Right as Triton was turning away to leave with the swordfish, Aralyne moaned and slowly came to.

* * *

><p>"Oh, my back," I groaned opening my eyes. I found myself staring at a group of familiar seafolk and gasped in horror at the King of Atlantica.<p>

"Aralyne, sweetie, it's okay. You're safe now," said Queen Athena who smiled warmly at me.

"I'm so sorry!" I said curling up on myself.

Triton, who was swimming away came to a halt and turned to me, but said nothing.

"You had an accident and got hit on the back," the crab said patting my hand with one of his claws, "Are you okay?"

The King and Queen glanced at each other, having some sort of silent exchange. When Triton nodded, Athena smiled at me once more and said, "You're in no danger here, I promise you."

I realized Excalibur was missing from my back and saw a swordfish take it away. Shooting a quick glance at Triton, I didn't bother asking for my sword. I needed him to trust me.

* * *

><p>Morgana was watching Shiloh's progress through her magic bubble and muttered aloud, "That's right, Princess. Just a little further." She suddenly turned to the manta rays and commanded, "Cloak! Dagger! Go make sure Triton has a reason to have her executed, hmm?" The two manta rays left the lair and Morgana returned her attention to the magic bubble.<p>

* * *

><p>Near the Southern Isles, it was incredibly cloudy in the morning sky. Birds were flying and porpoises were swimming happily. From the fog a ship appeared crashing through the waves.<p>

"_I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue_

_And it's hey to the starboard, heave ho_

_Look out, lad, a mermaid be waitin' for you_

_In mysterious fathoms below."_

"Isn't this great?" said Prince Hans in delight, "The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face . . . a perfect day to be at sea!"

Grimsby, leaning over the side, replied sarcastically, "Oh yes . . . delightful . . . ."

"A fine strong wind and a following sea. King Triton must be in a friendly-type mood," said one sailor hauling up a net filled with fish onto the deck.

"King Triton?" Hans asked in curiosity.

"Why, ruler of the merpeople, lad," explained a second sailor pulling a fish out of the net, "Thought every good sailor knew about him."

"Merpeople!" Grimsby scoffed at them, "Hans, pay no attention to this nautical nonsense."

"But it ain't nonsense, it's the truth!" the second sailor snapped, waving the fish in Grimsby's face, "I'm tellin' you, down in the depths o' the ocean they live." The fish in his hand flopped away and landed back in the ocean, relieved.

"_Heave. ho. Heave, ho. In mysterious fathoms below."_

Now free, the fish swam away.

* * *

><p>I swam right towards a sunken ship, a bag dangling from my shoulder. I stared at the ruins in wonder, excited to figure out its secrets along with finding the charm. The mermaid princesses said this would be a good place to find it.<p>

From a distance, I heard Flounder call out, "Aralyne, wait for me…."

"Flounder, hurry up!" I said a bit impatiently.

He finally caught up to me and said, "You know I can't swim that fast."

"There it is," I said ignoring his statement, "Isn't it fantastic?"

"Yeah . . . sure . . ." he said disinterestedly, "it - it's great. Now let's get outta here."

"You're not getting cold fins now, are you?" I teased.

"Who, me?" he replied, "No way. It's just, it, err . . . it looks - damp in there. Yeah. And I think I may be coming down with something. Yeah, I've got this cough." He coughed unconvincingly and I rolled my eyes at him.

"All right. I'm going inside. You can just stay here and - watch for sharks," I suggested then swam into the sunken ship through a porthole.

"Okay. Yeah - you go," he said agreeing at first, but then realized what I said and added, "I'll stay and - what? Sharks! Aralyne!" He tried to fit through the porthole, but got stuck. "Aralyne . . . I can't . . . I mean – Aralyne, help!"

"Oh, Flounder," I said laughing.

He then whispered to me, "Aralyne, do you really think there might be sharks around here?"

"Flounder, don't be such a guppy."

"I'm not a guppy," he protested as I grabbed his fins and pulled him through the porthole. We then swam through the ship. "This is great - I mean, I really love this. Excitement, adventure, danger lurking around every corn-" he saw a skull, and screamed, crashed into a pillar causing a cave in and swam frantically away, knocking me over. "Aralyne!

"Oh, are you okay?" I inquired hugging him.

"Yeah sure, no problem, I'm okay . . . ." he replied, shaking in my arms. Releasing him, I continued to swim through the ship, keeping an eye out for the charm. "What was that?" Flounder suddenly asked, warily looking around, "Did you hear something?" I ignored his questions sure that it was nothing. "Aralyne . . ." he said sounding like he was ready to cry.

"Flounder, will you relax. Nothing is going to happen," I said.

A split second later, I heard Flounder scream and turned to see a shark looming behind him. "Run! Run! We're gonna die!"

The shark chased us all around the ship. My bag got caught by a piece of wood and floated off my shoulder. I couldn't leave it behind! Turning around, I retrieved my bag right as the shark almost got us. We then headed for a porthole. After quickly shoving Flounder through, I swam out, and the shark crashed through the wall as if it didn't exist. We swam all around, dodging the shark and Flounder got knocked silly when he swam right into a mast. As he drifted down to the floor, I dove after him and caught him near an anchor. The shark headed straight for us, and I dodged at the last second. The shark got trapped in the anchor's hole and glared at us.

Now himself once more, Flounder chided the shark, "You big bully," then blew a raspberry. The shark snapped at him and he swam away scared.

As we headed away from the sunken ship, I laughed and said, "Flounder, you really are a guppy."

"I am not."

We returned to Atlantica and entered the palace in silence. The tension between me and Triton was thick. Once there, he began to reprimand me in the throne room with my Athena and the princesses watching.

"I don't trust you going about my kingdom without one of my guards watching you. You are confined to the palace, Aralyne," he said, "I'll have my subjects look for the charm.

_Confined to the palace?! But I didn't _do_ anything! _I muttered back angrily, "Why don't you just lock me in jail?"

Raising his voice, he repeated his earlier statement, but added a bit more to it, "Aralyne, you are confined to the palace until you understand what you've done."

"What did I do?" I demanded, "Tell me, You're Highness.…"

"Aralyne, leave it alone!" Attina snapped at me.

"No," I replied, "I haven't done anything wrong! It was all Siren! _Siren _is the one that killed Ariel, not _me!_"

He looked stunned for a moment, but then shook his head and said, "This discussion is over."

"Just tell me!" I said as he began swimming away.

"I do _not_ have to explain myself to you," he replied.

"I don't understand," I said swimming after him, "Why are you treating _me_ this way?! Ariel was my _friend!_ I would _never_ hurt her!"

"I will not have a lying murder in my kingdom!" he roared at me.

I stared at him, hurt and said in a quieter tone, "I may not have spent much time with Ariel and Melody, but I _know_ they wouldn't have wanted this!" I left the throne room, crying.

Since I was stuck in the palace, I went to the room I had to myself. Triton didn't trust me to sleep with his daughters anymore. I sure as hell wasn't going to stay here and wait until someone found the charm for me. I was going to go out and get it myself.

_But why?_ I thought to myself, _Why try and remain a mermaid? Triton thinks of you as a monster, so why should you stay? _But where else was I to go? Back to Nesidy full of people lying to me and using me as a pawn for their own selfish reasons?

Once it was late enough and I was sure everyone had fallen asleep. I snuck out of my room and left the palace. I hadn't gotten far when Sebastian and Flounder appeared out of nowhere, blocking my path.

"Where do you think you're going, young lady?" the crab asked me.

"To go find the charm, _on my own_," I said, "Besides, I'm not even wanted here. King Triton had proved that much."

"If you run away from Atlantica," said Sebastian, "it will give the King a reason to lock you up."

"I'm sorry. I just stay here and be confined to the palace," I said.

The crab then said, "Listen, girl, I will not be responsible for losing you."

"I'm leaving!" I said trying to swim around him and Flounder.

"Nobody's leaving!" Sebastian cried, blocking the path once more.

"Look, Sebastian," I said trying to make him see this through my point of view, "as long as I'm here, I'm seen as a monster, and there's no way to change Triton's mind on that."

Sebastian began pacing and muttering to himself, "Ha! Oh, no, no, no." _Gasp!_ "Never mind." He suddenly screamed and looked very excited about something.

"Are you okay?" I asked in alarm.

"Aralyne, you're right!" I smiled now that he understood what I was feeling. "I know just where to go!"

He motioned for me and Flounder to follow and we did, and by the time dawn arrived, we were well out of Atlantica and out of sight form it as well.

"Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go!" Sebastian urged as we swam out in the middle of nowhere while Flounder was scatting. "Flounder, shh! Move it, move it, move it, mon."

"Flounder, please!" Sebastian hissed, but the fish continued scatting. "This way. Come on."

"Where are we going exactly?" Flounder inquired, no longer scatting.

"Don't worry, mon," said Sebastian.

"'Cause I got to go to the bathroom," Flounder said.

"Oh, Flounder," I said rolling my eyes.

Eventually, we went on in silence. For a while anyway.

"Are we there yet?" Flounder inquired.

"No," Sebastian replied.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"Yes. This is it," Sebastian finally said.

We were out in the middle of nowhere with large boulders surrounding the area. Flounder and I looked about the place skeptically.

"Are you sure?" Flounder asked.

"Yes," Sebastian said smugly.

"Are you sure?" Flounder repeated.

"Yes," said Sebastian.

I began asking the same question and he yelled out the same answer.

"Are you s –"

"_Yes!_ It's perfect," Sebastian declared, before walking away to find a place to sleep.

"Well, it beats the palace," I muttered to myself then moved over towards the crab and added, "Sebastian, be honest. Are we lost?"

"No, this is fine," he said giving me a smile, "There's more to this place than meets the eye." He went off to sleep, and I found a spot and lay down.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

I woke up to hear a soft melody playing, the music echoing around the large boulders. Sitting up, I observed my surroundings. At first, I didn't find anything unusual, but then in the distance I saw something shining.

"Sebastian," I whispered swimming up to the snoring crab.

"Five more minutes, Mommy," he grumbled sleepily.

"Sebastian, did you hear that?" I inquired peering over my shoulder at the glimmer in the distance.

One of his eyes popped open and he looked annoyed with me. "Leave me alone!" he moaned with a yawn, placing his claw over his face, "Sleeping."

"But there's something out there," I insisted gesturing to the boulders, "Come on, help me find it!"

"I'm tired," he said waving me away before turning over on his side, "You go check it out."

Nervously biting my lip, I realized he was being serious and turned to swim towards whatever was shining. I eventually came to some sort of cave with a rock blocking the entrance and the music seemed to be coming from behind that rock. It was almost as if the music was beckoning me forward, so I pushed the rock aside, and entered the cave. I stared at what I saw before me. The cavern was covered from top to bottom in human objects. Becoming excited, I looked at everything, being careful not to touch. Turning around, I was a bit startled to see my reflection in a piece of glass but soon relaxed and giggled from excitement. Moving away from the glass, I finally found where the music was coming from. A blue and gold music box in the shape of a clam was open emitting a lovely melody. The figurines in the music box were of King Triton, Queen Athena and their daughters, including Ariel and Melody. For a moment, a memory flashed through my mind of the two lost sisters smiling at me. Holding the music box close to myself, I slid into a sitting position.

"It was a present," I heard Sebastian say and I looked up to see the crab had followed me into the grotto, "King Triton had the music box made for Ariel and Melody. They were the only two that loved music the most."

"The family together," I said quietly turning my attention back to the figurines inside the box, "Everyone happy."

"And the palace hallways echoing with laughter," Sebastian added, "When Ariel died, the whole kingdom was heartbroken. The heart that never healed was your father's, especially after Melody disappeared."

Shutting the box and cutting off the music, I hugged it. "It's so sad," I replied, "He's forgotten what it feels like to be happy." Glancing down at the object in my hands, an idea formed in my head, and I smiled. "I... I _have_ to bring this back to him!"

"If you insist."

"This is why we came here," I said to the crab who was also forming a small smile, "isn't it?"

Together, Sebastian and I left the cavern, closing it up and swam back to Flounder, waking him up and explaining the plan. We all headed back towards Atlantica.

* * *

><p>Flotsam and Jetsam were watching a magic projection in a bubble of Aralyne swimming and Ursula was right behind the evil eels.<p>

"Yeeeeeees," she sneered out in pleasure. She had been watching Aralyne for the past couple of days and knew that the girl had lost her memory. "Hurry back, princess. We wouldn't want to make old Triton angry, now, would we? Huh! I can't believe they allowed her to _live_ since _she's_ the one that killed off his daughters! Flotsam! Jetsam! I want you to keep an extra close watch on this pretty little _liar_. She may be the key to her own undoing. . . ."

* * *

><p>Sebastian and I had returned to Atlantica right before breakfast and ran into Queen Athena and King Triton in one of the hall ways. Thankfully, they have no clue I snuck out last night, but that wouldn't be a secret for long.<p>

"Sir, I found this, " I said and held up the music box before me.

Athena gasped and the angry look on Triton's face faded as he stared at the music box in surprise. Slowly he took the object from me and opened it up. Music rang through out the hall and almost as if it was beckoning them, the princesses appeared and silently watched the scene.

"Where did you get this?" he quietly inquired.

"I found it in a grotto," I replied, "It must have been Ariel's and Melody's right?"

"You left the palace?" he asked shutting the music box and looking back up at me. I winced. "I just don't know what we're going to do with you, young lady."

"Sir, I'm sorry," I began, but he cut me off.

"As a result of your careless behavior -" as he spoke, I interrupted him.

"Nothing - happened. . . ." I nervously began.

"As long as you live under my ocean, you'll obey my rules!" Triton roared.

"But if you would just listen -"

"Not another word! Is that clear?!" he yelled. I bit my lip to keep it from trembling, and turned with tears in my eyes. When Athena reached out to me, I pulled back and swam away with Flounder following me.

* * *

><p>Athena gestured to her daughters and said, "Come on, girls. Breakfast." All of the females left, glancing back at Triton.<p>

Sebastian had stayed behind.

Triton looked down at the music box thinking of Ariel and Melody and asked, "Do you, er, think I - I was too hard on her? Aralyne needs constant supervision. Someone to watch over her - to keep her out of trouble. And _you _are just the crab to do it!" The King poked him. "_Don't_ let me down."

Surprised, Sebastian nodded and quickly scuttled away after Aralyne. When he was far enough away, he muttered to himself, "How do I get myself into these situations? I should be writing symphonies - not tagging along after some headstrong teenager." Seeing Aralyne and Flounder sneaking off out of the palace, he followed. "Hmm? What is that girl up to now?" He chased after them all the way back to the grotto. The crab barely made it into the cave before Aralyne shut the entrance and didn't notice him.

* * *

><p>"Aralyne, are you okay?" Flounder asked as I twirled a fork between my fingers.<p>

"If only I could make him understand that I'm not a monster," I muttered, putting the fork back where I found it. Swimming around the cavern, I examined everything with Flounder, becoming excited by the treasures. What if I found the charm here?!

When I stopped exploring, there was a loud crash, making me jump. Flounder and I swiveled around to see a familiar crab tangled in a bunch of human objects.

"Sebastian!?" I said in surprise.

"Aralyne - what, are you mad? How could you -?" Sebastian stuttered kicking the human stuff off of him. Taking a deep breath he said, "Aralyne. You're under a lot of pressure down here. Come with me, I'll take you to the palace and get you something warm to drink." A shadow passed over us, grabbing my attention.

"What do you suppose?" I muttered gazing up at the hole in the grotto's roof. Leaving my friends behind, I pushed the boulder aside and left the cavern, swimming up towards the surface to find out what the shadow was.

"Aralyne? Aralyne!" Sebastian called out to me, but I ignored him.

Reaching the surface, I saw a multitude of colored fireworks exploding in the sky and stared in amazement and wonder. Underneath the lights was a ship. Flounder and Sebastian arrived just seconds later.

"Aralyne, what - what are you-" Sebastian began but then noticed what had entranced me, "jumpin' jellyfish!" Giggling, I swam towards the ship. "Aralyne, Aralyne! Please come back!"

I swam up to the ship and hauled myself up the side, and sat down on a rigging, well out of sight of human eyes. As I was peering through the railings, a dog appeared out of nowhere and sniffed me before licking my face. I had to bite back a giggle, for it had tickled and I didn't want to be seen.

There was a whistle, and a male voice called out, "Max, here boy." The creature ran off towards a man with auburn hair and green eyes. "Hey, come on, mutt, whatcha doing, huh, Max? Good boy." I stared at him in wonder, heat creeping into my face and my heart thudding like crazy. A dreamy smile slowly spread across my lips.

An older man then stepped forward and said, "Silence! Silence!" Everything on the ship became quiet, the other men giving him their attention. "It is now my honour and privilege to present our esteemed Prince Hans with a very special, very expensive, very _large _birthday present."

"Ah, Grimsby - y'old beanpole, you shouldn't have," said Hans with a smile.

"I know," replied Grimsby, "Happy birthday, Hans!" A large, gaudy statue of Hans was pulled out on deck. Max growled at it.

"Gee, Grim. It's, err, it's, err - it's really somethin'. . . ." said Hans trying to be polite. I actually loved the statue. They had captured his likeness perfectly!

"Yes, I commissioned it myself."

A streak of lightning lit up the sky and thunder rumbled overhead. The sky grew dark and a strong gust of wind began to blow. I held onto the rope near me for dear life.

"Hurricane a'commin'!" shouted out a crew member. "Stand fast! Secure the riggin'!" The storm finally hit, and I was instantly soaked from the pouring rain.

The ship crashed through the storm. I don't know how long I had managed to cling to the rope, but I eventually lost my grip and landed back in the ocean. Reaching the surface, I was in time to see lightning strike the sail and start a fire. Horrified, I watched the ship head straight for a rock protruding from the ocean.

"Look out!" Hans's voice rang faintly through the howling wind. The ship collided with the giant rock and all of the humans were thrown overboard except Max. Hans and the other humans had managed to get into a small boat before I could get to them. "Grim, hang on!" said Hans pulling the elderly human into the boat. We heard barking and looked up to see Max still on the burning ship. "Max!" Hans dove into the ocean and swam back to the flaming ship climbing onto the deck. I gasped as a mast engulfed in flames fell heading straight for Hans, but gave a sigh of relief when he jumped out of the way. Max was on a higher part of the ship and Hans reached out to the furry creature. "Jump Max! Come on boy, jump! You can do it Max." Max leaped and landed in the human's arms. He ran across the ship but then tripped, sending Max into the water. For some reason, Hans wasn't moving and I became terrified as the flames surrounded him, blocking him from my point of view.

"HANS!" Grimsby shouted pulling Max into the small boat. A split second later, the ship exploded.

"NO!" I screamed swimming forward into the wreckage. Frantically, I searched for any signs of the man and finally found him drifting on a piece of wood before sliding under the waves. I quickly dove after him, grabbed him by his arm, and swam up to the surface. Making sure his head stayed above water, I pulled him towards a nearby beach. By the time we had reached it and I pulled him far away from the tide, the storm had ended and the sun was shining in the sky again.

I sat beside Hans who remained unconscious. "Please don't be dead," I quietly begged, afraid of what the answer might be. Pressing my ear to his chest, I was relieved to hear his heart beat. Sitting up in excitement, I brushed a strand of auburn hair out of his face. "He's so, beautiful."

Hans stirred, his eyes slowly opening as his hand gently grasped mine.

He blinked up at me for a moment, but then I heard barking and looked up to see Max running our way. Panicking, I left Hans, and dove back into the ocean. From a safe distance, I peered out from behind a boulder and watched the scene on the beach as Flounder and Sebastian finally made it to my side.

"Hans! Oh, Hans," said Grimsby reaching Hans's side and helping him up. "You really delight in these sadistic strains on my blood pressure, don't you?"

"A girl - rescued me," said Hans slightly dazed. He nearly collapsed, but Grimbsy held him up.

"Ah, Hans, I think you've swallowed a bit too much seawater. Off we go. Come on, Max," the elderly man led Hans away down the beach.

"We just gotta forget this whole thing ever happened," Sebastian nervously said, but I ignored him, "The sea king will never know. You won't tell him, I won't tell him. I will stay in one piece."

* * *

><p>Flotsam and Jetsam appeared not far from Aralyne at the beach and watched the whole thing, while Ursula was watching through their eyes.<p>

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. I can't stand it - it's too easy. The child is interested in a _prince! _And the worst enemy to Tulio! He will _love _that. This headstrong girl will start a war between kingdoms!"


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

When Hans, Grimsby, and Max returned to the Southern Isles castle, they were completely worn out. Entering the building, they made a mess everywhere with sand and water.

Queen Morgaine saw them, and her face flamed red. "Hans, what is the meaning of this?!"

Her screech caused King Eadric, and Hans's three eldest brothers to come see what was going on.

"Sorry, Mother," said Hans glancing back at the trail they had made, "I'll have it cleaned as soon as possible."

"Honestly, Hans, why can't you be more like your brothers," said the King shaking his head, "They never caused us this much trouble before. You're such a failure."

The comment stung, but Hans didn't say a thing.

"Where did we go wrong with this one?" Morgaine said dramatically as she and her husband left.

"I'll send for a maid," said Grimsby, also leaving, and taking Max with him to give the dog a bath.

"I'm not the worst," Hans muttered, "At least I didn't disown the family and run away like -"

"_Don't_ say his name," warned Alcott, the oldest, "Are you _insane?!_ Do you _want_ Mother to have another fit?!"

"So, baby brother," said Kit, the second oldest, wrapping an arm around Hans's shoulders, "Why _are_ you dressed in rags? A new trend?"

"No," Hans grumbled, wishing he could get away from his tormentors, "I was caught in the storm and almost died."

"Hmm, too bad you didn't," scoffed the third oldest, Thomas, "We would be better off without you here."

"We should go back to ignoring him," Alcott suggested.

"Oh, Hans, if only there was someone out there who loved you," Kit laughed shoving his youngest brother way. Hans fell over in a heap, his face flaming in fury. His brothers just laughed at him and left him there in the hall.

* * *

><p>Sebastian was pacing back and forth in my room as I sat on my bed, picking petals off a flower, thinking about Hans. Even though the crab was muttering to himself, I could clearly hear every word he was saying.<p>

"Okay, so far, so good. I don't think the king knows you snuck off again."

I tried ignoring him, but it was proving difficult. "I wonder where he's from because I've never seen him before," I muttered rolling my eyes upward. _If I can't go back to Nesidy or stay here, then maybe I could stay in his country._

While Sebastian kept muttering to himself, Flounder suddenly arrived and whispered in my ear, "Aralyne, I have a surprise for you over in the grotto! Come on!" Grinning, I shot up from my bed and swam away from the crab.

* * *

><p>When he finally turned around, Sebastian realized his charge was missing.<p>

"Aralyne? Aralyne? Oh... somebody's got to nail that girl's fins to the floor."

A little seahorse swam forward calling out to the crab. "Sebastian! Sebastian, I've been looking all over for you. I've got an urgent message from the sea king."

"The sea king?" Sebastian repeated, wondering what Triton could want.

"He wants to see you right away - something about Aralyne," the seahorse replied.

Sebastian gasped in fear. "He knows!"

* * *

><p>In Atlantica's throne room, Athena and Triton had discussed Aralyne, and had managed to convince him that since she had arrived, Aralyne had not caused any mischief or harmed anyone. Maybe she wasn't the evil monster he believed her to be?<p>

Triton noticed Sebastian in the doorway. "Come in, Sebastian."

Sebastian walked up to the King and Queen muttering to himself, "I mustn't overreact. I must remain calm. Yes," his voice shot up several octaves so he cleared his throat before continuing on in his normal tone, "yes, Your Majesty."

"Now, Sebastian, I'm concerned about Aralyne. Has she been acting peculiar lately?" Triton said getting straight to the point.

"Peculiar?" Sebastian said pretending he didn't know anything.

"You know, having time alone or plotting? You haven't noticed, hmm?" inquired Triton.

"Oh - well, I -" the crab stammered.

"Sebastian. . . ." said Triton his eyes narrowing in suspicion, "are you keeping something from me?"

"Keeping . . . something?" Sebastian nervously said.

"About Aralyne?" Triton continued.

"Aralyne . . . ?" Sebastian repeated. He suddenly broke down and cried out, "I tried to stop her, sir! She wouldn't listen! I told her not to sneak out, but she did -"

"SHE _WHAT?!_" Triton roared shooting out of his throne.

* * *

><p>Flounder and I had just entered the cave and I was feeling anxious. "Flounder, why can't you just tell me what this is all about?"<p>

"You'll see. It's a surprise," he said with a large grin.

We swam forward a bit more and I stopped staring at the statue of Hans. "Oh, Flounder- Flounder you're the _best!_" I exclaimed giving my friend a hug before heading straight for the statue. "It looks just like him! It even has his eyes! Why, Hans, run away with you? This is all so - so sudden." Laughing, I spun around joyfully but came to a halt, staring wide-eyed at the entrance. "King Triton!"

He was just floating there looking beyond furious holding Excalibur. "I consider myself a reasonable merman," he said in a cold tone, causing me to back up and hide behind the statue. "I set certain _rules_, and I expect those _rules _to be _obeyed_."

"But, Sir," I began, but he cut me off.

"_Is it true you keep sneaking out of the palace?_"

"Sir, I had to -"

"You just keep giving me more and more reasons not to trust you!"

"Then kill me now," I muttered, "I know you want to."

King Triton raised Excalibur and pointed it directly at me. _So this was it. Killed by my own sword._ He scowled and suddenly shifted his angle. A red light shot out of the tip and blasted the Hans statue into a million pieces. Pulling away from the rubble, I began to sob into my arms, as I leaned against a rock.

"Aralyne, I . . ." Sebastian began.

"Just go away," I said without looking up. I knew it was _his_ fault! He's the one that told Triton about me sneaking out!

* * *

><p>Morgana was furious that Triton hadn't killed Aralyne. Using her magic, she communicated with Cloak and Dagger.<p>

"Bring her to me!" she ordered, "She'll die one way or another!"

* * *

><p>I suddenly felt something brush up against me, and when my head shot up, I saw Cloak and Dagger. A bit surprised, I was going to ask what they were doing there, when Cloak wrapped his tail around me, pinning my arms to my side, and Dagger wrapped his other tail around my head, particularly over my mouth so I couldn't call out for help. They swam off with me in their clutches. Okay, so I guess I could trust the villains about as much as I could my "friends" in Nesidy.<p>

It wasn't long until we passed by Sebastian and Flounder and I could hear them talking about me.

"Poor Aralyne," Flounder sniffed.

"I didn't mean to tell, it was an accident," the crab explained, then looked up and saw me with the manta rays. He and Flounder began to follow us.

_Yes! Good!_

It took a while, but we eventually got back to Morgana's lair.

"Oh, there you are, darling!" said Morgana with a large smile, "Oh, I was so worried about you."

Angrily, I shifted my head until Dagger's tail slipped from my mouth. "You _lied_ to me! You were never going help me be a mermaid! What do you really _want?_"

"You're not as stupid as you seem," said Morgana, her smile fading, "I _want_ Excalibur!"

"Give it to her! Give it to her! Give it to her!" Undertow urged getting into my face.

Morgana grabbed him with one of her tentacles and pulled him away from the me. "Forgive him, dear. He's got a little size issue. Now, if you'll just hand over the sword."

"I don't have it," I said proudly, actually glad that Triton had confiscated it from me. She scowled and yanked me away from the manta rays and tossed me aside. I flew backwards into a smaller cave nearby.

"_No!_" I screamed, but then slammed into a wall and had the air knocked out of me. As I struggled to breathe, Flounder suddenly swam up to me to make sure I was okay.

"Oh, and by the way... your time as a mermaid has just about expired. Catch you later. I've got bigger fish to fry!" she said before swimming away with Undertow following her.

I then felt a sharp pain in my fin and lower stomach. "What's... What's happening?" I gasped out. A green light surrounded my fin and it split into a pair of legs. "Oh, no! Oh!" I accidentally swallowed some sea water now that I could no longer breathe. I tried swimming away towards the surface, but with little air and being deep down, I didn't think I would make it. And I was right. The last bit of air I had escaped my lips in bubble form and I felt myself sinking as everything went black...

* * *

><p>As soon as Flounder went to Aralyne's rescue, Sebastian had turned and swam off as fast as he could. Soon he came across King Triton who hadn't gotten back to his palace just yet.<p>

"Sire," said Sebastian frantically, "Aralyne's been kidnapped by Morgana! She's in danger!"

"One less human to worry about," Triton snarled, ignoring the crab.

"But Your Majesty! She was Melody and Ariel's friend! They wouldn't have wanted you to treat her this way!"

Triton froze, the words slapping him in the face. He then turned to the crab and said, "Take me to her."

Sebastian led King Triton back towards Morgana's lair and it wasn't long until they crossed paths with the sea witch.

"King Triton," she sneered, "How are you?"

"Surrender Aralyne and I shall spare you," Triton said menacingly pointing Excalibur at her.

"Ooh! What you gonna do? Throw the crab at me?" Morgana taunted him.

"Face it, Triton. You're all washed up!" Undertow added. Sebastian then chased the shark around, trying to pinch him.

"I'm gonna be teachin' you some manners!" Sebastian declared.

"Now look at me. I'm bait!" Undertow said.

"I'll tell you where Aralyne is if you give me the sword," said Morgana.

Triton glared at her, and hesitated before handing over Excalibur.

"All the power of Incantationen at my command!" Morgana crowed causing green lightning to come out of the sword.

"Hello! Can we get with the program? It's still a small world down here!" Undertow called out. Morgana suddenly hit him with a beam of light from Excalibur and the tiny shark grew until he was half the size of a ship. "Oh, yeah! Look out!"

Using Excalibur, Morgana had created a tower made of ice, and caused a lightning storm. "All hail Queen Morgana!" she crowed to the world. Triton suddenly realized his mistake and regretted it.

"I'm hailin'! I'm hailin'!" Undertow cried hopping out of the water.

* * *

><p>With all of his strength, Flounder had managed to catch Aralyne and swam as fast as he could to the surface of the water. Once there he found that Morgana had Excalibur and created a palace made of ice. Flounder pushed Aralyne's body onto a block of ice.<p>

That's when Captain Amelia's ship arrived and Tulio was leaning over the railing staring at Aralyne looking horrified.

"Aralyne!" he yelled. Turning to Flynn, he took his friend's sword and leapt off the ship, landing on a piece of ice.

"Tulio! Come to join the party? We're having a blast!" Morgana laughed shooting a beam of light towards Tulio. He rolled out of the way, but ended up losing the sword, dropping it into the ocean. "Oh, how dear Ursula would have _adored _this!"

Tulio demanded getting to his feet and glaring at the sea witch, "What have you done to her?"

"Oh, you want to join her fate? Well, I think that can be arranged," Morgana said with a sneer, and he realized too late that Cloak and Dagger had wrapped their tails around his feet. They pulled him off the ice and into the ocean.

Sebastian had followed them down under water and pinched the tails of the two manta rays, which then released Tulio. Now free, he swam up to the surface and pulled himself up onto the ice beside Aralyne. She wasn't breathing! She wasn't _moving!_ He tilted her head back and began performing CPR. "Come on! Breathe, dammit! I didn't risk life and limb for you to die on me now!" Tulio plugged up her nose and breathed into her mouth. "Breathe! Come on! You can't die on me! Not again!"


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

I suddenly gasped, coughed up water, and opened my eyes. "What?"

"You're alive!" Tulio exclaimed, hugging me before holding me at arms length, "What the _hell _were you thinking?!" I flushed at how close we were and quickly pulled away. He may be the only one from Nesidy _possibly_ telling me the truth, but I still didn't trust him. I mean, come _on!_ What guy just blurts out to a girl he just met that she _loves_ him?!

I turned my attention back to Morgana.

"Fools! I have Excalibur now. And all the creatures of the sea are in _my _power!" Morgana cackled, causing giant icicles to burst out of the ocean, breaking the ice. "I'm the queen of the sea... and you will bow down before me!" She then used the sword to strike Flounder. "Pathetic fools! Watch and see how utterly powerful I can be! The end begins for all of you with fins!" She struck Sebastian.

I stood up and looked down at my feet for a moment before a determination flowed through me. I then ran across the ice and began climbing up the ice tower.

"Aralyne, stop!" Tulio shouted out, but I ignored him.

I nearly had several heart attacks as I was nearly impaled by some of the giant icicles. The icicles grew in height and I rode them up to the top, sometimes hopping from one to the other. I gasped as I slipped and almost fell to my death. Dammit! My training in the army did _not_ prepare me for ice!

Finally, Morgana struck Triton with Excalibur, "That's it, Triton. Bow down! Bow down before me!"

"No, Your Majesty! You mustn't!" Sebastian begged.

"I'm sorry, Sebastian. I have no choice," Triton said defeated as he bowed.

"Oh! Wishes do come true," said Morgana becoming a bit teary-eyed. Shen then shouted to the sky, "See that, Ma?! Who's your favorite now?!" By then I had reached the top of the tower right behind the sea witch. "It's over, Aralyne! I sentence you to _oblivion!_" She finally noticed that I was no longer on the ground, and I leapt forward and grabbed Excalibur."You!" Morgana exclaimed in mild surprise.

"Stay back!" I warned pointing the sword at the villain. Now that Morgana no longer had the sword, the spell she cast on the sea creatures faded and they sat up staring.

Morgana laughed and said, "You don't have the nerve, sweetheart. You're nothing like Siren!" She suddenly wrapped a tentacle around my foot and knocked me flat on my back.

"You're right," I said with a smirk, "I'm _not_ like Siren!" I stabbed one of the tentacles. Howling in pain, Morgana released me. "Never again will you threaten me!" I snarled up at the sea witch, "There will be no escape for you... _ever!_" I pointed Excalibur up at Morgana and froze her in a block of ice. The entire ice tower crumbled into the ocean, and Morgana's form sank below the waves.

I didn't exactly think that through. When the ice tower fell, I went along with it.

"NO!" Tulio shouted, jumping to his feet, and running beneath me.

I landed in his arms, a bit stunned and stiffened. "Put me down," I ordered glaring at him.

"Aralyne, just shut up and let the man carry you," a voice said. I turned to see Flynn had gotten off the ship and was heading for us. "He has been through hell to find you."

I ignored my friend, and punched Tulio in the arm. Again, I didn't think that through. I had struck a nerve, and Tulio dropped me onto my behind. _That one hurt!_ I gingerly got back to my feet.

"Come on, we should get back to Nesidy," said Flynn wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I shrugged it off and stepped away from the men.

"I'm not going back, and certainly not with you," I said coldly.

"What do you mean you're not going back?" said Tulio rubbing the spot where I had punched him, "You have to!"

"No!" I shouted glaring up at him, "Grandpa had my memories erased for what_ever_ stupid reason! And then he orders _everyone_ in Nesidy to keep it from me!" Flynn shuffled his feet uncomfortably. "I will _not_ be lied to anymore! I will _not_ be a pawn in this stupid game any longer!"

I looked down at the sword in my hand and my eye suddenly caught the glint of the ring on my finger. Of course! How could I be such an idiot?! The rings could transport me to any world! Did I want to go back home? No, not really, but I certainly didn't want to be surrounded by a bunch of liars, either! I thought of someone I could possibly trust, someone who I just met, and therefore didn't know me or my past. Someone who wasn't _lying _to me! Prince Hans!

There was a flash of light and I suddenly found myself on an unknown beach.

* * *

><p>Hans and Max were walking down the beach, when he said aloud, "I can't get that girl out of my head. I've looked everywhere, Max - where could she be?"<p>

As Hans and Max continued walking, the prince failed to see Max's nose twitch, and the dog ran off barking excitedly.

"Max? Huh . . . what, Max!" Hans called out to his dog.

* * *

><p>Hearing a barking sound, I looked up to see Hans' dog, Max running towards me. Startled, I ran away and he chased me up onto a rock. With a jump, he licked my face, making me giggle. He then ran off when we heard a male voice and Hans came around the corner. I gasped and stared at his handsome face. <em>It worked!<em>

"Max . . . Max - Quiet Max! What's gotten into you fella?" Looking up, he finally spotted me, his green eyes widening slightly. "Oh . . . Oh, I see. Are you okay, miss?" he inquired coming closer, "I'm sorry if this knucklehead scared you. He's harmless, really -" he stopped before me and I smiled, stunning him, ". . . you . . . seem very familiar . . . to me. Have we met?" I nodded eagerly. "We have met? I knew it! You're the one - the one I've been looking for! The one that saved me! What's your name?" Hans inquired grasping my hands.

"Aralyne," I replied quietly, then tried sliding off the boulder. Unfortunately, I slipped and fell off the rock, right into him, but he caught me in his arms. Startled I stared up at him, blushing slightly. "Whoa, whoa, careful - careful - easy. Come with me." He led me off the beach, one arm wrapped around my waist, and took me to a village.

At the village, he rented a carriage and we rent through a ride in the surrounding country side. I was amazed by everything I had seen, truly enjoying myself. The tour of the new country was the most fun I could ever remember having! After the carriage ride, we saw the town and Hans took me dancing! I never wanted this day to end, but unfortunately, time seemed to have sped up and all too soon, it was evening. The last thing we did was rowing out on a still lagoon.

As he worked the oars, I told him about how I came from a different world. Of course, I kept quiet about saving Incantationen from the Horned King. I didn't want any villains in the Southern Isles finding out about that and destroying my fun time here.

"And for some reason Lao Shi - the ruler of Nesidy - had my memories erased. Why and of what, I have no idea. And to make the situation worse, _all_ of my friends were keeping it a secret from me! Including Danny," I said sadly. I still couldn't believe my best friend would do that to me! It hurt down to my core! Blinking back tears and taking a deep breath, I finished with, "And so I left Nesidy and ended up here. By the way, where _is_ here?"

Hans laughed and said, "Welcome to the kingdom of the Southern Isles." He then became serious and stopped rowing to grab my hand. "As for everyone in Nesidy, don't worry about them. You'll never have to see them again if I can help it."

"Thank you," I said smiling and tucking hair behind my ear, "You're a very good listener, Hans." _And hot!_ "I feel like I can trust you."

He smiled once more, his green eyes twinkling.

Then without warning, the boat tipped over and we fell into the water. Thankfully the lagoon was shallow.

"Whoa, hang on - I've gotcha," he said getting to his feet and helping me up. _What just happened?_

* * *

><p>In Ursula's cavern, the sea witch was watching Aralyne's adventures through her magic bubble. Her eels had tipped the boat over to prevent the humans from kissing and were now congratulating each other.<p>

"Nice work, boys," said Ursula with a sneer, "This is working out better than I thought! At this rate, they'll be kissing by the next sunset for sure! And if not, then it's time Ursula took matters into her own tentacles!" She began throwing ingredients into her cauldron to create a potion. "With Aralyne caught up in a love triangle, Excalibur will be mine, and then I'll make her writhe. I'll see her wriggle like a worm on a hook!" Laughing maniacally, a golden light from the cauldron engulfed her and she transformed into an exact replica of Aralyne with short hair and golden brown eyes.

* * *

><p>Still soaking wet from our fall in the lagoon, Hans and I trekked through town and to a castle. Well, he <em>was<em> a prince after all. Inside, he handed me to a woman named Carlotta who gave me a bath.

"Tipped into the lagoon," said Carlotta as I played with the excessive amount of bubbles in the tub, "Oh, the poor thing. We'll have you feeling better in no time." She picked up my soaked clothes and said, "I'll just get this washed for you." She walked out of the room with it, and returned later once I had washed my hair and body.

After getting out of the tub, Carlotta had helped me change into a fluffy pink dress and led me to the dining room. When she left to check on something, I remained outside of the room listening to Hans and Grimsby speak.

"Oh, Hans, be reasonable. Nice young ladies just don't - swim around rescuing people in the middle of the ocean and then -"

"I'm tellin' you, Grim, she was the one that saved my life and I'm gonna marry her."

My heartbeat started racing at his announcement. _Marry?! Really?! This is going too fast!_

Carlotta suddenly returned and seeing me still standing there, she laughed, gently taking hold of my arm and pulling me into the dining room. "Come on, honey. Don't be shy."

The two men turned and stared me. When Carlotta had let me go, I continued forward on my own.

"Oh, Hans, isn't she a vision?" Grimsby asked, making me smile.

"You look - wonderful," Hans said, staring.

I blushed and muttered, "Thanks."

"Come, come, come, you must be famished," said Grimsby taking my arm and leading me to the table and pulling my seat out for me, "Let me help you my dear. There we go - ah - quite comfy? Uh. It's - It's not often that we have such a lovely dinner guest, eh Hans?"

And that's when ten other people entered the dining room: nine men and one woman. The oldest man had auburn hair streaked with gray, and the woman had black hair pulled back into a tight bun with piercing blue eyes. I suspected they must have been Hans's parents, but who were the other men?

The woman's gaze landed upon me and her lip curled as if she smelled something disgusting. "Hans, who is _she_ and _what_ is she doing here?"

"Mother, this is Aralyne," Hans said through gritted teeth, "She saved my life and I invited her to dinner. Aralyne, this is my mother, Queen Morgaine, my father King Eadric, and eight of my brothers: Alcott, Kit, Thomas, Vincent, Luke, Henry, Miles, and Eugene."

I quickly shot to my feet and curtsied. "It's an honour to meet you, Your Majesties."

Morgaine sniffed and walked past me to sit further down the table. I bit my lip and composed myself. _She's such a bitch!_ Eadric followed his wife, but at least had the courtesy to nod in my direction.

"So _you're _the one that saved my brother's life," said one man sitting to my left. He had neatly combed brown hair and green eyes similar to Hans, "Why would you do such a thing?"

I was startled by the question. "Because it was the right thing to do."

"Thomas," Hans growled out his face becoming red.

"I can't imagine anyone caring about Hans enough to save him," remarked another man taking the seat to my right. He had long auburn hair pulled into a ponytail and piercing blue eyes.

"_Enough_, Vincent," said Hans, steadily becoming angrier.

A man with black hair and brown eyes inquired of me, "Do _you_ care for Hans?"

I arched an eyebrow at him and replied coolly, "I do. He's kind and caring, unlike _some_ I can mention."

Another man with auburn hair and blue eyes laughed. "Watch out, Luke! This little kitten has a bite!"

"Leave her alone, Henry," Hans snapped.

"Prince Alcott Westerguard of the Southern Isles and future king," said one man with brown hair and blue eyes, "A question, Lady Aralyne."

That was a _bit_ more polite but he had an arrogant air about him. "Yes?"

"Aren't you a little _young_ for Hans?"

I flushed in embarrassment as everyone but Hans, Grimsby, and Carlotta snickered.

"Yeah, how old are you, anyways? Twelve?" asked a man with brown hair and blue eyes.

"Don't be rude, Miles!" Hans snarled.

"I'm _nineteen!_" I snapped. In all technicality I was twenty in my world, but I would forever be nineteen in Incantationen. More strange unexplainable magic.

"Still a child in my opinion," said a man with brown hair and eyes before taking a sip of wine.

"She's only five years younger than you, Eugene," said Luke rolling his eyes.

Another man with black hair and brown eyes took the seat opposite from me and winked in my direction. "You're too good for my baby brother. How about you and I go have _fun_ in my room?"

I swear my face was a fiery beacon at his sick implication.

"KIT!" Hans roared.

I stood from my seat and said, "Hans, it's okay. And if your parents don't mind, I'll be taking my dinner somewhere else." Morgaine was watching the exchange with amusement and waved me away. Well, there was my answer. Holding my head up high, I turned on my heel and walked out of the dining room.

"Aralyne, wait!" Hans said jogging after me, "I'm going with you."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

"I'm sorry about my family," said Hans as we ate our chicken dinner out in the garden, "They're not the best, and you were lucky to only meet eight of them."

"How many do you have?" I wondered aloud nibbling on a piece of bread.

"I'm the youngest of thirteen," he admitted and I choked on my food. _Thirteen?!_ I mean I knew my great-grandmother had about eighteen kids, but I never really thought about it and I've never even met half of that side of the family! "James, Marcus, and Louis are off on some adventure."

I quickly did the math in my head. "That's only eleven brothers. Who's the twelfth?"

Hans stiffened and muttered. "We're not allowed to speak of him."

He avoided looking at me, and I stared wanting to know more, but I could tell he didn't want to talk about it, so I let the subject drop. My heart went out to this prince. He was obviously mistreated by this lot.

"Hey," I said taking his hand. He turned to me, his green eyes shining almost unnaturally in the sunset. "They're your family, your flesh and blood, but you don't have to put up with that kind of treatment. Just remember that no matter how bad things are with them, there is at least _one_ person that cares about you."

"Did you mean what you said to Luke?"

"Of course," I said flashing him a smile. He slowly leaned in close to me, and my heart started racing. _Too close! Too fast!_ But I didn't move. Did I _want _him to kiss me?

Before anything could happen, Carlotta arrived and the prince pulled away from me. She took our plates.

"Come along, dear. I'll show you to your room," she said.

_Room? _Did Hans really set up a room for me, as well?

"Oh, um, good night," I said to Hans giving his hand one last squeeze before following Carlotta. She had shown me up through the castle to the room I was to be staying in and helped me into a pink nightgown. When she had left, I went out onto the balcony and watched Hans play with Max in the garden.

"Come here boy!"

_He's so sweet!_ I mused as I dreamily stared down at him. Hans suddenly looked up in my direction, smiled and waved. Startled, and embarrassed, I waved back before going back inside.

* * *

><p>The next day Hans had to stay at the castle and meet with his family. Not wanting to be around them again, I decided to wander around the Southern Isles by myself, with Excalibur strapped to my back, of course. Hans even let me borrow his horse, Sitron.<p>

I rode Sitron out into the woods and stopped near a stream for a rest. Sitting in the grass, I leaned against a tree, and shut my eyes, listening to the stream run by. It wasn't long until I heard rustling and I opened my eyes to see a face directly in front of mine. I gasped and pushed back, slamming my head into the trunk.

"Ouch!" I muttered rubbing my sore noggin.

"Sorry!" said the girl backing away from me. She had shoulder-length light blonde hair and bangs falling across her forehead. Her dress was light blue and white with purple ruffles and a purple sash tied around her waist. She even had light blue and white striped leggings with purple boots, and a light blue top hat with a purple ribbon. She regarded me with gray-blue eyes and a slight smile. A basket was held in the crook of her arm. "I thought you were sleeping," said the girl.

"No, just resting," I replied staring at her. I couldn't tell if she was older or younger than me. She looked to be about about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, but she had an air about her as if she was much younger.

Her smile widened as she said, "Hi, I'm Alyss! What's your name?"

"I'm Aralyne," I replied.

Alyss suddenly reached into her basket and produced a cup of a steaming brown liquid. "Tea?"

"Uh, no thank you."

She shrugged and sipped the tea herself. And all of a sudden, a figure fell from my tree, screaming and landing beside us with a loud _thump._ Alyss seemed unfazed by this, but I stared in horror at the girl laying on her back. She also had light blonde hair, but it was much longer and her eyes were a couple shades darker than Alyss's. Her dress was a sky blue with white and pale yellow ruffles. She even had a sky blue bow in her long tresses and sky blue boots over her pale yellow stockings.

"Are you okay?!" I demanded leaning over the new arrival.

"I'm fine," she said with a giggle sitting up. She thrust her hand out at me. "I'm Catherine! Alyss's older sister!"

"Nice to meet you," I said shaking her hand, "What were you doing in the tree, anyway?"

"Trying to fly," said Catherine matter of factly.

I blinked at her for a moment then burst out laughing. These two were completely off their rockers, but I liked them!

"Come! You must join us on our picnic!" exclaimed Catherine jumping to her feet. Still holding onto my hand she yanked me to my feet and pulled me a bit away from Sitron and plopped me down in a grassy patch surrounded by sunshine. Alyss joined us and we ate sandwiches and cakes from the basket.

I felt as if I had just made two new best friends.

* * *

><p>Hans was furious. His parents and brothers held the meeting to discuss Aralyne. Morgaine had shown obvious disdain for the girl, whereas Eadric was indifferent.<p>

"I want her out of here, Hans!" exclaimed the Queen, "I don't want some filthy commoner staying in our castle! Or worse! She could be a _servant_ girl!" She looked as if she would swoon from embarrassment.

"Hold on, Mother," said Alcott holding up a hand, "Before we kick our guest out into the streets there is something you must know about her first."

"What is it? She's not a thief is she? Or a gold digger?" inquired Eadric.

"No," replied the oldest prince, his blue eyes glinting mischievously"She's _royalty_."

"So are _we_," said Kit with a snort, "What makes _her_ so special?"

"I had my man, Caleb, do some research on her last night," said Alcott, "Aralyne wasn't being entirely truthful as to who she says she is."

"Well, who is she?" demanded Thomas.

"_Queen_ Aralyne, the _savior_ of Incantationen!" Alcott declared with a smirk.

Hans was frozen. He had heard rumors of a savior, but knew next to nothing about it. And it had been _her _ that saved his life! And now she was _living _with him!

There was a collection of gasps.

"You can't be serious!" said Vincent.

"Oh, but I am," said Alcott, "That tiny little thing Hans brought into the castle is the true Queen of this world!"

"Just imagine having the power to rule the world," Morgaine whispered excitedly, her blue eyes shining with greed.

"Shall I be the one to court her, Mother?" inquired Alcott.

"Why should it be you?" Miles demanded.

"Yeah," Luke agreed, "You're already going to be King of the Southern Isles! Let one of us have a chance!"

"I don't care who it is," said Morgaine excitedly, "but one of you marry the little tramp and through her we'll control Incantationen!"

As his brothers began declaring who would win Aralyne, Hans sat there scowling.

* * *

><p>"So where are you from? We haven't seen you around here before," said Catherine laying on her back in the warm sunlight.<p>

"I'm actually from a different world, but I usually stay in Nesidy," I replied and told them everything that had happened, including the bits of Siren and being the savior. I felt like I could trust these two. "So now I'm staying at the castle with Prince Hans and his family."

"Neglected and ignored," said Alyss with a sigh.

"Prince Hans," Catherine mused turning over on her stomach, "Poor guy. Everyone knows that he's been abused, used, broken, and beaten. They all have, in fact, but Hans and a few of his older brothers got the worst of it. There is a reason why three of them are always off on adventures."

"I keep doing the math and I can only name 12 princes total. Who is the thirteenth? _Where_ is he?" I said sitting cross-legged in the grass.

"Ah. It has been forbidden to speak his name," said Alyss seriously, "We do not speak of him and the King and Queen will know if we did. They have spies everywhere! It's a conspiracy!"

"I see," I said gazing up at the sky. It suddenly occurred to me that I had been out in the woods with the sisters the entire day and the sun was now beginning to set. With a sigh, I stood up and brushed grass off the white and gold ruffles on the skirt of my scarlet and gold dress. The grass stains on my white stockings could not be helped, though. "I'd best return to the castle before it gets any later. It was great meeting you! 'Bye!"

"'Bye, Aralyne," they said in unison as I jumped on Sitron's saddle and rode him back to the castle.

When I had returned, Carlotta was waiting for me with dinner, which I wished to have in my room. There was still no way I was going to spend more time with Hans's family. Unfortunately the youngest prince did not join me this time.

* * *

><p>Hans was out in the garden again, staring out over the ocean when Grimsby came up behind him.<p>

Grimsby said to the young man, "Hans, if I may say, despite your family and their plot, you should do what you believe is right with the young lady." He gestured to the window above them before walking away.

Hans looked up to see Aralyne getting ready for bed and smiled. With a sigh, he turned to head inside, but then heard a female voice singing. Swiveling back towards the ocean, he saw a _Aralyne _walking down the beach, her seashell necklace glowing gold. A golden light drifted from the necklace across the beach towards the castle. The golden light entered his eyes, and he was instantly entranced...

* * *

><p>Mushu wasn't feeling well. In fact, he had felt sick since he bit Zombie Pocahontas. The little dragon's colouring had faded and he was sweating profusely.<p>

"Man... I knew biting her was a bad idea," he moaned out, then hunched over and threw up.

"Aw! Poh widdle dwagon," someone mocked in a baby voice. He looked up to see Siren sneering at him.

"Y-You did this to me," he stammered out trying to focus on her, but his eyesight was blurry, and he saw four of her.

"No, Mushu, you did this to yourself. You went and _bit_ a _zombie_. You got its blood into your system, and now you have been infected as well." The villainess laughed. "I said I would come back for you, and in a bit you will belong to me." Siren laughed once more, her voice echoing inside his head, and everything went dark...

* * *

><p>Looking down at her minion with pride, Siren felt as if something were missing. His colouring remained faded, but his eyes were now glowing an eerie white. "Not much damage you can do at this size," she said thoughtfully. She flicked her fingers at him and he suddenly grew until he towered over her, and he became even more fearsome-looking. His mouth opened and venom dripped from his fangs in pools at her feet. "Now, that's what I'm talking about! Go out, my dead dragon, and kill!"<p>

Mushu nodded and quickly ran off. Laughing, Siren transported herself onto a rooftop in the middle of Nesidy. Down below, Mushu was already causing destruction. The screams coming from below was music to her ears. She peered down to see many of the heroes grabbed weapons to fight the zombie dragon. Mushu fought back, twisted out of the way of many attacks, turned and bit Mulan in the side.

The Chinese woman screamed in pain and Siren was able to see the venom from Mushu's fangs penetrate her body. Mulan suddenly went through a horrifying transformation. Her skin paled to the color of milk, and her eyes glowed an eerie white. Blood began dripping from her lips as Mushu released her. She turned and began swinging her sword, connecting with several people. Blood splattered all over the streets. The screams became even more intense. Half of the heroes turned their weapons upon Mulan. She received a scratch on the left side of her forehead, and arrows struck her from every angle. They protruded from her back, her right thigh, her left calf, and in her stomach. That did nothing to stop the new undead creature. The two zombies continued to move forward and attacked people.

This went on for a while until Siren became bored and transported her creations and herself back to her castle.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

_(Song in this chapter is "Vanessa's Song" - with a couple of alterations - from the movie the "Little Mermaid".)_

"Aralyne. Aralyne, wake up. Wake up." I opened my eyes to see _me _leaning over my face. For a horrifying moment, I thought it was staring at Siren, but it couldn't have been! Siren's eyes were red, and this impostor had my golden brown eyes! I opened my mouth to scream, but the impostor slapped a hand over my mouth. _What the hell was going on?!_

With a growl, I lifted up my legs and kicked the fake me off the bed. She fell to the ground with a thump and groan.

"You litlle brat!" the other snarled. She suddenly morphed into Ursula and I gasped in horror. Leaning over the bed, I began reaching for Excalibur, but one of her tentacles wrapped around my ankle and dragged me off the bed. The rest of her tentacles pinned me down so I couldn't move, and one covered my mouth. I glared at her.

"Congratulations, princess, you did it," she sneered at me.

_What's she blathering on about?_

"Soon the whole town will be buzzin' about the youngest prince gettin' himself married this afternoon," she said and I stared at her, not understanding what the news was. "Married to a certain _savior_." Ursula transformed her upper body back into mine, and let me tell you seeing myself with tentacles was very creepy! She grabbed a length of rope and used it to tie me up. The last thing she did was stuff a cloth in my mouth to gag me before tossing me inside a wardrobe.

_This couldn't be happening!_

* * *

><p>In the early morning, the bewitched Hans stood in the throne room with his arm around the fake Aralyne, his family and Grimsby surrounding them.<p>

"Well, uh - err, Hans. I-it appears that you have made a choice and so has she. Congratulations, my dear," said the older man. Morgaine looked irritated while the other princes were furious. Why anyone would choose Hans was beyond them.

"We wish to be married as soon as possible," said Hans.

"Oh, yes - of course, Hans, but, er - but these things do take time, you know," said Eadric.

"Right away, Father. The wedding ship departs at noon."

"Oh, oh - very well, Hans - as you wish," said Grimsby agreeing to the terms. "Aralyne" smirked at the assembled princes.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean Aralyne's getting married to Prince Hans?!" demanded Catherine rounding on her younger sister. She and Alyss were in their cottage's kitchen, the former standing near the sink while the younger sat at the table reading a newspaper.<p>

"That's what it says here," said Alyss before taking a sip of tea. She then frowned and set down the paper. "But it is highly suspicious. She doesn't seem like the type of girl to marry a man she just met."

"Something is wrong. I can feel it," said Catherine running towards the window. She threw it open and morphed into a blue bird before flying off into the sky.

She soared over the Southern Isles, soon flying over the wedding ship. Hearing a voice singing, she followed and peered into a porthole to see Aralyne, twirling around.

"_What a lovely little bride I'll make, my dear I'll look divine_

_Things are working out according to my ultimate design_

_Soon I'll have that little savior and the kingdom will be mine!"_

With an evil laugh, Aralyne peered into the mirror, but Ursula was reflected back. Seeing this, Catherine began to panic.

"The sea witch! Oh no . . . She's- I gotta. . ." Turning, she quickly flew off back towards her cottage. Upon flying through the window, she became human once more.

"Alyss!" she panted "Alyss. I was flying, I wa - of course I was flying - An' - I s- I saw that the watch - the _witch _was watchin' a mirror! _Do you hear what I'm tellin' you?_ THE PRINCE IS MARRYING THE SEA WITCH IN DISGUISE!" Alyss gaped at her. _It makes sense now! There's no way she would marry a man she just met!_

"What are we gonna do!?" Alyss asked setting down her teacup.

"We have to find Aralyne, first of all. If Ursula is impersonating her that means she's in trouble! Let's go!"

The two sisters transformed into blue birds and flew out of the cottage. After flying over the kingdom for a bit, they went straight towards the castle, and entered a room that had a window left wide open.

"So if she was staying here, she's probably still here somewhere," Alyss said thoughtfully, looking around the place.

"Well, we're definitely in the right room," said Catherine picking up a red, gold, and white dress off the floor. It was the exact same one Aralyne had been wearing the previous day.

* * *

><p>I don't know how long I had been standing in the wardrobe. It could have been days, or even <em>weeks!<em> Still bound and gagged, I was completely powerless. Eventually I heard two voices speaking outside my wooden prison.

"So if she was staying here, she's probably still here somewhere."

"Well, we're definitely in the right room."

_I knew those voices!_ But how was I to get their attention? I hopped and rammed my shoulder against the wardrobe's wall. _Thump! _Ow!

"What was that?"

Again. _Thump!_ Ow! Right as I was about to ram my shoulder into the wood again, the doors opened and I toppled out of the wardrobe, landing on my side. _Oooowww!_

"Aralyne!"

Alyss pulled a knife out of her boot and used it to cut my bindings while Catherine pulled the gag out of my mouth.

"How did you know to find me?" I asked in slight surprise, sitting up.

"We knew something was wrong when we heard you're marrying the prince," said Catherine, "Now come on, before he ends up stuck with that sea witch for the rest of his life!"

The sisters each grabbed one of my hands and hauled me up onto my feet. Together the three of us ran out of the castle and Catherine led us to the docks where we skid to a halt.

"They're on that ship!" Catherine said pointing to the only one out in the ocean. It was so far! there was no way to get there in time!

"We have to find a way to stall the wedding," Alyss declared, then to my amazement my friends turned into bluebirds. They flew overhead chirping to rally up some help.

Without thinking, I jumped into the water and began heading towards the ship.

* * *

><p>"Aralyne" was walking down the aisle to the alter with an evil smirk on her face. Max growled up at her, but she kicked him in the face to shut him up.<p>

"Dearly beloved," the priest began when she had arrived before him. Hans just stood there in his hypnotic state.

* * *

><p>"I've gotta make it," I gasped to myself when I was mere feet from the boat, "I'm almost there." Finally reaching my destination, I grasped a rope that had been dangling from the boat. Using that, I climbed up the side side of the ship, able to hear the wedding.<p>

"Yes, um, do you Hans, take Aralyne, to be your lawfully wedded wife, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." _Hans, no! I'm coming!_

"Eh, and do you . . ." The Priest's words were drowned out as a myriad of birds and animals suddenly swooped onto the ship with Catherine and Alyss. Hearing the chaos, I smiled and kept climbing.

I suddenly heard my voice scream out, "Get away from me, you slimy little- Oh, why you little-!" Right as I pulled myself over the rail, I saw Ursula in her disguise swatting at the sea creatures. Alyss latched onto the necklace around her neck and yanked it off. The shell smashed on the floor at my feet. Hans blinked looking as if he had been under a spell.

"Aralyne?" he said in surprise.

"Hans," I said with a smile as Max came up to me barking happily.

He then turned and saw the impostor and looked back and forth between us, as did everyone else.

"Hans, get away from her!" Ursula ordered but my Prince ignored her.

"What's going on here?" demanded Queen Morgaine.

"Which Aralyne is the real one?" inquired King Eadric.

"That one," shouted Alyss and Catherine returning to their human forms and pointing at me.

The youngest prince ran towards me.

"HANS NO!" Ursula shouted. She suddenly reached behind a pillar and pulled out Excalibur, pointing it towards me.

"Aralyne, look out!" my shape-shifting friends shouted out.

Ursula snickered and shot a beam of green light at me. A sharp pain ran through the lower half of my body and I slid to the ground as my legs turned into a purple tail.

Hans stared down at me in bewilderment, his green eyes wide.

Laughing maniacally the sea witch lost her disguise. After crawling our way, she grabbed me by the arm and pulled me overboard. With an evil smirk she said to Hans, "So long, lover-boy."

"Aralyne!" he shouted as Ursula and I fell into the ocean.

The nightdress I had been wearing slid off my body, but thank goodness I still had my bra underneath. "Poor little princess," said Ursula dragging me through the ocean, "getting caught up in all of this drama. What would Tulio think?" I stared at her. _Why would he care? _"It doesn't matter. I'm pretty sure Siren would be pleased to hear I have disposed of you."

"You - You monster!" I launched up to try and take my sword back, but she kept it out of my reach and shoved me aside as easily as if I were kelp.

"Don't fool with me you little brat!" She yelled pointing Excalibur at me, again. She suddenly screamed as Catherine and Alyss appeared out of nowhere, pulling her hair. Hans was also by my side, and pulled me away from the sea witch. "Why you little trolls!" Ursula shouted aiming for my friends, but they dodged.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded of all three of them.

Ursula turned her attention to us and pointed at the Prince. "After him!" Flotsam and Jetsam, who must have been nearby, wrapped their bodies around him, and pulled him away from me. Ursula held me back with her tentacles. Hans struggled in the eels' grasp and I knew he needed air by how red his face was turning.

Alyss swam up to the eels and stabbed their tails with her knife. Flotsam and Jetsam screamed, releasing Hans, and he headed straight for the surface.

"Say goodbye to your sweetheart," Ursula snarled pointing the sword at Hans. Panicking, I pushed her arm aside at the exact same time Catherine grabbed Hans and pushed him out of the way. The blast missed them by inches, but did strike Flotsam and Jetsam who exploded into pieces.

Swimming up, I grabbed one of Hans's arms and Catherine and I helped him up to the surface. Alyss followed us.

When my friends had gotten some air, Hans wrapped his arms around me.

"Hate to break it up but we've got bigger problems!" Catherine said.

"You've got to get away from here," I said to all three of them.

"No, we won't leave you," Hans said. A myriad of bubbles appeared below us with a glowing light and hair, now the size of a ship came between us. And the four of us soon found ourselves on top of Ursula's head, who was now the size of a giant. Alyss and Catherine grabbed on to me to keep from falling as the sea witch grew larger.

Reaching around the hair, Hans grabbed my hand and jumped, pulling me along with the girls. After plunging into the water, we resurfaced to see Ursula had stopped growing, Hans wrapping his arms protectively around me once more.

"You pitiful, insignificant, fools!" Ursula said in her booming voice, sending a tentacle after us.

"Look out!" Hans shouted as the four of us dodged.

"I am never going swimming again! You sure got her attention!" Catherine gasped.

Looking back up, we saw Ursula was still holding the magic sword and pointed it at the sky, creating a storm. "Now I am the ruler of all the ocean! The waves obey my every whim!" Hans and I were torn apart and the girls grabbed my arm so that we weren't separated. "The sea and all its spoils bow to my power!"

"HANS!" I screamed, but he disappeared.

Continuing to use the sword, Ursula created a whirlpool and raised some shipwrecks. Alyss, Catherine, and I got caught in the whirlpool and sank down to the bottom. Above us, Ursula aimed the sword and tried blasting us, but we kept dodging along the ocean floor.

Laughing wickedly, Ursula cried, "So much for true love!" As she raised the sword to finish us off, we saw a ship steer into view, and impale the sea witch. She screamed, lightning striking her, and she fell to the bottom, dragging the ship with her.

Water crashed down around the girls and me, and the others disappeared. In the murky water, I saw Excalibur sinking to the ocean floor, but I grabbed it and quickly swam to the surface, frantically looking around until I saw Catherine and Alyss swimming towards shore; Hans was crawling on the beach and collapsed on the sand. Relief washed over me at the sight of them, but I still needed to check if they was okay. I swam over to the beach and pulled myself up beside them.

"We're fine," Alyss gasped when I reached their side and Catherine waved me off as she coughed up water.

I then turned my attention towards the prince.

"Hans," I said reaching out and brushing a lock of red hair out of his face. I was vaguely aware that the storm had ended and sunshine was peeking out through the clouds. There was no response other than his steady breathing. "Please, Hans, wake up," I begged. His hand reached out and grasped mine. His eyes slowly opened and he smiled at me.

"Aralyne," he said. Hans slowly sat up and I wrapped my arms around him.

"I'm so glad you're okay," I murmured into his collar bone. Pulling away, I used the sword's magic to turn me back into a human, and wearing a lavender dress.

After seeing my transformation, Hans laughed and asked, "Aralyne, will you marry me?"


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

_(Brief song lyrics in this chapter from "Secret" by the Pierces.)_

My smile slipped away. _Marriage?!_ "I'm sorry, Hans, but this is going too fast," I said sincerely, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I really do care for you, it's just I'm not ready for marriage yet. Besides we just met less than a week ago!"

"I understand," he said but I could detect a bit of sadness, and - could that be relief? Strange. He suddenly cupped my face and kissed me full on the lips, surprising me. The kiss was sweet, and tasted wonderful, but somehow felt... _wrong._ Pushing the thought aside, I pulled away and smiled. Hans stood up and helped me to my feet.

"Don't mind us," said Catherine grabbing my attention once more, "We'll just stay here and rest for a while." The sisters were leaning against each other still gasping for air.

"Do you two need anything?" I inquired.

"Dry clothes would be nice," said Alyss twisting her hair to get the water out of it.

"We'll be right back," I said then leaned in and hugged them both, "And thanks for your help!"

Together, Hans and I walked back to his castle.

* * *

><p>Danny had gotten steadily worse to the point he couldn't even leave his bed anymore. Despite Sam's best efforts, the medicine she gave him didn't seem to be working and it worried her. As of now she was sitting at the edge of his bed, placing a cool cloth over his sweaty brow. Even under the covers he was shaking. His blue eyes were open swimming in and out of focus as he muttered under his breath.<p>

_"Got a secret_

_Can you keep it?_

_Swear this one you'll save"_

He had been repeating this for the past couple of days on an endless loop when he was awake, which made Sam uneasy. It just seemed foreboding.

_"Better lock it in your pocket_

_Taking this one to the grave"_

"Sam?"

She turned to see Danny's parents, sister, and cousin standing in the doorway.

_"If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said_

_'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"_

"How is my baby boy doing?" Maddie Fenton asked, putting on a brave face.

Sam pursed her lips and shook her head. She didn't want to tell them her suspicions. Maddie's lip trembled and she broke down sobbing.

_"Why do you smile like you've been told a secret?_

_Now you're telling lies 'cause you have sworn to keep it"_

Jack took his wife away, leaving Jazz and Dani with Sam.

"He's not going to make it, is he?" Jazz said quietly. Again, Sam shook her head.

_"But no one keeps a secret_

_No one keeps a secret"_

"I told him," said the Goth girl, "I told him if he allowed his guilt to continue eating away at him, he would get worse. I guess it was just too much."

_"Why when we do our darkest deeds do we tell?_

_They burn in our brains, become a living hell"_

Danielle moved forward and leaned over Danny. "Hey, cuz," she said not entirely sure if he heard her, "We need you to get better, okay? If not for us, or yourself, then for Aralyne."

_"Because everybody tells_

_Everybody tells"_

Nothing seemed to have clicked with him. With a sigh, Dani turned to leave, but then Danny's mutterings stopped and he latched onto her tiny arm.

"Aralyne," he said hoarsely his gaze focusing on his cousin.

"Danny?" Jazz and Sam said simultaneously, surprised.

"Go get Aralyne," Danny said, "Please."

He suddenly released the twelve-year-old and returned to muttering.

_"Got a secret_

_Can you keep it?_

_Swear this one you'll save"_

"Get Aralyne? But where would we find her?" Dani inquired looking up at the older females.

_"Better lock it in your pocket_

_Taking this one to the grave"_

"Mama Odie would know," said Jazz, "Now hurry! Go!"

Dani transformed into Phantom and took off.

_"If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said_

_'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"_

Flying at 112 mph, it didn't take very long for the young girl to get to Mama Odie's boat in a tree in the bayou. "Mama Odie?"

"Come in, child," said Mama Odie who was standing at her tub, stirring gumbo with a large wooden spoon.

"I'm sorry, Mama Odie, but I don't have much time," said the child, "I'm looking for Aralyne and don't know where she might be!"

Turning her head to the young girl, Mama Odie laughed and said, "Aralyne! I haven't seen her in ages! You tell that girl to come visit her Mama!"

"Yes, ma'am," said Dani a bit impatiently.

Mama Odie then faced the tub again and said, "Where is Aralyne? Hmm... Gumbo, gumbo in the pot, we need the savior. What you got?"

The gumbo started glowing and Dani moved closer peering into the tub. There was an image of Aralyne over in a far off country and words flashed below the picture: _Southern Isles!_

"The Southern Isles?" Dani said in confusion. Why would Aralyne be over there? She shook her head. It didn't matter. "Thanks, Mama Odie!" she exclaimed before flying out of the boat. She didn't care how long it took, but she wasn't going to stop until she got to Aralyne! Danny's life depended on it!

* * *

><p>Flynn and Tulio had sailed aimlessly, not knowing where Aralyne had gone to and ended up off the coast of the Southern Isles. Tulio stared out at the kingdom. He couldn't believe he was back here, especially after all these years. He had sworn he would never return. From where he stood, he saw the royal ship docking and many people in elegant clothing leaving the boat.<p>

Flynn knew how he was feeling. Of course he did. He was Tulio's best friend and therefore knew _everything_ about him.

"She might not even be here," Flynn said, "We can just sail over to the next kingdom and begin our search there."

Tulio sighed and said, "We could, but there's a chance she's here."

"I'll go and look. You stay here," said Flynn. Tulio nodded his agreement and continued staring at the kingdom.

Flynn jumped into a rowboat and lowered it into the ocean, before heading off towards shore. After about a half hour he arrived on the beach to find two blonde girls sitting in the sand, soaking wet.

"Hello," he said pulling the boat far from the tide, "I'm looking for someone, and wonder if any of you have seen her?"

Catherine and Alyss eyed him appreciatively, which he ignored. He still had Meg back in Nesidy.

"Maaaaybeee," said Catherine rolling her eyes upward with the hint of a grin.

"What's her name?" Alyss inquired.

"Aralyne Chanson," he said then used his hands to describe her, "She's about this high. Looks no older than sixteen. Has short, curly, dark brown hair. Freckles. Golden brown eyes."

The two sisters exchanged glances. "Yeah, we know her."

Flynn couldn't believe his luck! She was here!

"She just went to the castle with Hans and should return soon," said Alyss.

Again, he couldn't believe his luck. Tulio wasn't going to like this!

"Are you a friend of hers?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah, I'm from Nesidy. My name is Flynn."

"Oooooh!" the girls said in unison.

"So, _you're_ Flynn Rider! She's told us about you," said Catherine.

"She also told us you lied to her. How can _we_ trust you?" Alyss pointed out.

"You just have to," he said and that's when they heard footsteps heading their way.

* * *

><p>Hans and I managed to get in and out of the castle before his family returned from the ship and were now walking the beach hand in hand while I held a bag of clothes for Alyss and Catherine. When we arrived, I came to a sudden halt when I saw them talking to Flynn Rider. What was <em>he<em> doing here?

"Aralyne!" he said then stared down at my hand clasped with Hans's. "I'm glad I found you! We have to go!"

"Go where?" Hans inquired with a slight frown.

"Look, I'm sure you're a very nice prince but she's already someone else's true love," Flynn said. I frowned at him, having a feeling of who he was talking about.

"Whose?" Catherine and Alyss said eagerly watching the exchange like it was a soap opera.

"Tulio's," Flynn replied shooting Hans a glance. The girls gasped.

"I am _not_ his true love!" I snapped my face red. _How_ many times were people - especially _Tulio_ - going to insist that this was true?! I looked up to see Hans had become stone-faced. "Look, if you're here to cause trouble, then go away!"

With a cry of frustration, Flynn yelled, "Why won't you believe me?! Since he's known you, he's risked _everything_ for you! _This_ is what Grandpa had erased from your memories! He made sure you _forgot_ about Tulio! If I was here to cause trouble why would I help you?!"

Was he telling me the truth this time? No. This sounded too far-fetched.

"Come on, Aralyne, let's leave," said Hans wrapping an arm around my waist and turning me away from Flynn.

"What about Tulio?!" Flynn shouted out, "You started dating him after he helped you rid yourself of Siren! Siren is causing trouble for everyone _right now_ and if you don't stop her then who will?!"

Hans rounded on him angrily, his face scarlet. "STOP SAYING THAT NAME!"

"She's Tulio's true love!" Flynn yelled at him, "You hear me?! TULIO!"

"No I'm not!" I shouted angrily, "I'm not in love with anyone, especially Tulio! I've never even _heard _of him until he saved me from Vizzini! Just shut up and go away!"

Still red in the face, Hans snarled, "He's obviously lying, Aralyne! Tulio is an enemy to the kingdom, and since he knows him, he must be one of his thugs!"

With a scowl, Flynn retorted, "You liar! You're angry because I know who he really is, Hans of the Southern Isles!"

"SHUT UP!" Hans roared stomping towards Flynn, "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"

I grabbed his arm and held him back. "Come on, let's just go!"

This seemed to calm him as he turned away from Flynn.

"Aralyne, you can't!" Flynn begged, "What about Tulio?!"

Looking at him over my shoulder, I shook my head as I gave the girls the bag of clothes. "I'm sorry, Catherine and Alyss, but I can't be here much longer. I then walked away with a fuming Hans.

When we had returned to the castle, Hans told his guards, the lot of them wearing red coats, "There is a man with brown hair and brown eyes out on the beach harassing Aralyne and me! I want him arrested this instant!" The guards nodded and left. I found it a little harsh to send the guards after him, but didn't say anything.

* * *

><p>Flynn was still standing on the beach fuming and muttering curses to this bad luck. Meanwhile, Catherine and Alyss had ducked behind a giant boulder to change into dry clothes.<p>

"You were telling her the truth weren't you?" said Catherine once they were finished, tossing her and her sister's soaked dresses in the bag.

"Yes," he said raking his hair back, "And she's not going to believe me. Not that I blame her."

"Well, logically," said Alyss straightening out her skirt, "If her memory of Tulio was erased, of course she wouldn't remember. If you were lying, you wouldn't be so frustrated in trying to convince her it's the truth. But you could have left out the whole 'true love' bit. That part makes it sound a bit far-fetched."

"We'll help you with Aralyne," said Catherine.

"Aren't you two loyal to Hans and the royal family?" Flynn asked suspiciously.

"Well, we have great sympathy for him based on how he's treated, but Hans was never my favourite Prince," said Catherine tilting her head at him, "My favourite is the one that had the courage to leave."

"Hans is nice and stuff," said Alyss shrugging her shoulders, "but I think he's _too_ perfect, if you get my meaning."

Hearing a bunch of shouting, they looked up to see palace guards heading their way.

"There he is!"

"You there! Stay where you are! You're under arrest!"

"Damn!" Flynn muttered before diving back into the rowboat, "I'll be back. Thanks for your help, ladies!" He took off towards the safety of Captain Amelia's ship.

When he was near enough the ship, Tulio threw a rope ladder over the rail, and Flynn climbed up the side of the ship until he stood on deck.

"She's -"

"I know," said Tulio cutting him off, "I saw her... with him."

"Well, don't worry. I just enlisted the help of two girls loyal to you."

* * *

><p>The guards returned to the palace and told Hans that they had lost the man.<p>

"_What?!_" he snarled in fury, unable to believe he was stuck with a bunch of idiots, "Listen, I don't want _anything_ to happen to Aralyne, do you understand?! I wouldn't put it past the man to try something to get her! If you see him, or anyone that looks like him, I want him arrested and executed!"


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

_(Brief lyrics in this chapter are from the song "Secret" by The Pierces.)_

"Aralyne, you're eating dinner with us, tonight," said Queen Morgaine surprising me. I would have refused, but it sounded like an order. Who was I to deny my hostess, no matter how much of a bitch she might be? I followed her and her family into the dining room, and upon sitting at the table, I was suddenly surrounded by all of the Princes, except for Hans, who was pushed aside.

"So, Aralyne, why didn't you tell us who you really are?" said Eugene from my left.

"What are you talking about?" I inquired.

"Don't play coy with us," said Henry from my right.

"We know you're Incantationen's savior," Vincent said getting straight to the point.

"What?" I said my heart now hammering, "Who told you that?"

"I have my sources," replied Alcott.

Thomas jumped in and said, "Why don't you ditch my baby brother and spend some time with a _real_ man?"

"_Excuse_ me," I scoffed at him.

"Aralyne, we're going to get straight to the point," said Morgaine, "You're going to marry one of my sons, now which one will it be?"

"_What?!_" I screeched gaping at her. She _couldn't_ be serious! All of the princes looked at me expectantly, except Hans who seemed ashamed. I suddenly remembered Hans asking me to marry him. And the pieces started fitting together. They didn't want to have anything to do with me until they found out I was the savior. There was also the title of being Queen of Incantationen that went along with it. "This was a _set up!_" I shouted getting to my feet and glaring at Hans.

"N-No!" he stammered, his green eyes wide, "I had nothing to do with this! I swear!"

"Oh, shut up, Hans, yes you did," Morgaine sniffed, "Now, Aralyne, who do you choose?"

"No one!" I snapped, my face flaming, "I _trusted_ you, Hans! Guess I was wrong!" Lifting up my skirt, I took off running out of the dining room.

"Aralyne, wait!" Hans called out after me, but I ignored him. He was just as bad, if not worse, than everyone in Nesidy! As I was leaving the castle, I ran past the guards and could still hear Hans right behind me. "Stop her!" The sound of a multitude of footsteps told me they were following his orders.

I didn't get very far when I was suddenly caught about the waist and pulled into the shadows of some dense bushes. A hand was placed over my mouth, while the other held me down.

"Aralyne, it's me, Catherine!" a voice hissed in my ear as I struggled to be set free.

I stopped moving and the hand over my mouth was removed. "Catherine?" I said turning to look at her. Alyss was there as well. "What are you two doing here?" I whispered.

"Shh," said Alyss motioning for me to be quiet. The guards and Hans ran right on by, not noticing us in the least.

After waiting a few minutes in silence, and making sure the guards and Hans weren't coming back I said to the sisters, "Thanks. How did you know I needed you again?"

"Woman's intuition," said Catherine with a wink, "and I'm guessing Hans is now Prince Not-So-Charming?"

"No," I muttered angrily, "turns out the princes wanted to marry me because they found out I'm Incantationen's savior."

"Ouch," said Catherine, "Those bastards."

"Sounds like you need to get out of the Southern Isles," said Alyss.

"No kidding, but where am I to go, now?" I said, "Everywhere I go, people are either always lying to me, or I get attacked by villains. Not to mention, I keep losing my sword." I reached out to touch Excalibur's hilt to make sure it hadn't fallen off my back. Yup, still there.

"Look, you probably don't want to, but you _need_ to talk to Flynn," Alyss said and I scowled, "Other than us, he's the only friend you've got and he can help you."

As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. "Fine," I huffed.

"To the beach!" Catherine declared out loud.

"Did you hear that?" a voice shouted out, "This way!"

"Oops!" said Catherine sheepishly.

The three of us shot to our feet and ran towards the beach, Hans and his guards right behind us. When we got there, there was a boat waiting just out of reach of the tide.

"We borrowed it," Alyss quickly explained as we jumped into the boat. She and I each grabbed an oar as Catherine pushed the boat far into the water. After she climbed in, Alyss and I rowed out towards the ship. Once we got there, a rope was already dangling over the side and I latched onto it, hauling myself up. Right as I cross the rail, I tripped and landed in a pair of strong arms before I could hit the ground. I looked up, my gaze locking with a pair of piercing blue eyes.

"Aralyne," said Tulio.

I blushed and pulled away from him right as the sisters finally climbed on board.

"Damn," said Flynn, and we all turned to see he was looking back over the boat. We followed his gaze to see Hans and his guards had somehow managed to accquire a boat and were already half way to us.

Leaning over the rail I shouted out to the prince, "Leave me alone, Hans!"

"Aralyne, just _listen _to me!" he shouted back.

"Why should I?!" I snapped, "For all I know you just want to marry me so you can be _king_ of Incantationen!"

"He _what?!_" Tulio demanded, but I ignored him.

"Believe me when I say I had absolutely nothing to do with that! It's my mother's plot!" Hans replied.

They reached the ship, and climbed up the rope before we could pull it up. _Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_

Right as they reached the deck, Tulio pulled me away from the rail while Flynn, Alyss, and Catherine stood before me as a shield.

"If you want her, you'll have to go through us," said Catherine with arms crossed over her chest.

"I just want to _talk _to her," said Hans in irritation.

Tulio suddenly grabbed Excalibur from my back and pointed it at the prince. "Get off my ship," he said in a cold tone.

"What are you doing?!" I demanded of Tulio fearful he might hurt Hans.

He ignored me and asked Hans, "What _exactly _do you want with her?"

"That's none of your concern, Tulio," Hans growled out.

"It _is_ my concern when she's involved," Tulio snapped, "I _love _her!"

I flushed at his exclamation. I really wish he would drop this subject! "Stop it, Tulio!" I shouted, "I'm _not_ your true love, and I _don't_ love you! Will you give it a rest, already?!"

Hans smirked and said, "You see that? Another one that prefers me..."

Tulio seemed to have stiffened and he lowered the sword a bit. I glanced up at him to see his eyes had glazed over a bit, a hurt look etched upon his face.

"Tulio, are you going to let this smug bastard take someone else you love from you?!" Flynn shouted moving to stand between him and Hans, "If you truly love her, _fight_ for her!"

Still in his odd state, Tulio quietly said, "She wanted Hans... They've all wanted Hans and the others..."

"She could have chosen any man in this world, but she chose you! Don't let him win! If you let him take Aralyne, who knows what else he'll take! Aralyne is the one thing that is yours! Don't let him win and take her away, too! You're a good man, Tulio! That's why she loves you, even if she can't remember!"

"I _don't remember_ because it _never happened!_" I yelled at Flynn, "How many times do I have to say it?! I _don't _love Tulio! I'm not _in_ love with Tulio! He's _not_ my true love! And Hans, this does _not_ mean I'm choosing you!"

"Aralyne, think about it," said Alyss, "Your memories were erased, so of course you wouldn't remember. Perhaps Flynn and Tulio are telling the truth."

"I'm sorry, but I can't love someone if I have no memory of who they are," I said shaking my head.

Tulio muttered out loud, "I lost everything... They _took_ everything..."

With everyone distracted by what was going on, Hans suddenly rushed forward and pulled me out of Tulio's grasp, holding me in his arms.

"Hey!" I shouted out, trying to pull free, but he held on tight.

"Then don't let him take this!" Flynn continued, "Do you want this smug bastard to win?! Do you want to go back to being a _nothing?!_ You're a good man, Tulio! You were meant to be with her! Be the hero for _her!_ You were the one who woke her up when she ate the apple! You were the one she needed to keep Siren at bay! It was you! All you! You fought for her so many times before! Fight again!"

A fire suddenly erupted within his piercing blue eyes. He punched Hans in the face, who released me. Tulio grabbed me and pulled me into his arms. "Stay away from Aralyne!" he growled.

Catherine cheered but it was cut short when Hans grabbed her and held a dagger to her throat.

"Hans, no! Please, don't hurt her!" I cried out in fear. Everyone on the ship was now tense.

"Yeah!" Catherine agreed then choked as he brought the knife closer to her skin and drew blood.

"Please, Hans, if you truly care about me, you'll let her go!" I begged.

Hans now had a deranged look. "You're supposed to be _mine!_ Not _his!_" he roared nodding at Tulio, "You're what I always wanted!"

"I've had enough!" groaned Catherine before striking Hans in the four most sensitive areas of the body: solar plexus, instep, nose, and groin. She then kicked him overboard. Wiping at the blood with the sleeve of her dress, she said, "Man, that was getting annoying!"

We all leaned over the rail to look at Hans who floated in the ocean looking beaten both literally and emotionally.

"Tulio, please let me go," I said keeping my eyes on the prince.

"What? Why?" he demanded, his hold on me tightening.

"I need to talk to Hans," I replied.

"No! I'm not letting you near him, again!" Tulio declared.

"I'm not _asking _for your permission," I snapped, "Now, let me go!"

Tulio hesitated and I could see the internal struggle before he released me. I leaned over the rail and spoke to the prince. "Listen, Hans. You were a great friend, but I can no longer trust you because of your family and their plot."

His face suddenly became vacant of all expression and he said, "I understand, Aralyne. Just know that I will always love you." Looking up at the boat, he ordered his guards to leave the ship and they did. I gave him a sad, yet grateful smile. Turning away from me, he swam off towards shore.

When he had gone, I looked back at my companions on the ship. They were all staring at me, Tulio's jaw twitching. For a moment, the Prince's words echoed through my mind, _Tulio is an enemy to the kingdom._ An enemy to the kingdom of the Southern Isles? But why? What could he have possibly done to make the entire kingdom hate him so much? I shook my head to rid myself of this thought.

It was then that we heard a child's voice on the wind calling out my name.

"Aralyne! Aralyne!"

We looked around but didn't see anyone until Alyss pointed up at the sky.

"That girl is flying!"

We all followed her gaze to see Dani Phantom heading straight for us. The child quickly landed on the ship and fell to her knees, exhausted.

"Aralyne, I'm so glad I found you," she panted looking as if she were ready to pass out right then and there.

"Dani, what are you doing here?" I asked kneeling beside her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"It's Danny," she replied right away, "He told me to get you! You _have _to come back to Nesidy!"

"Look, Dan, I'm not very happy with your -"

"_Please!_" she begged tears now filling up her glowing green eyes, "He's _dying_, Aralyne!"

"Dying?" I repeated quietly, feeling my blood run cold. I had to get to him! Looking down at my magic ring, I latched onto Tulio's and Flynn's shirts. "Dani, Catherine, Alyss, grab onto me." They did so, the child wrapping her arms around my waist, and the sisters taking the crook of my elbow. I focused on the magic, thinking of Nesidy, and in the blink of an eye, we arrived in the town.

"Whoa!"

"How did that happen?"

"Where are we?"

Releasing the men, and shaking off the sisters, I said, "Tell Amelia, I'll replace her ship. Dani, take me to him!" With the ghost girl still wrapped around my waist, she lifted us up into the air and flew to a two-story house with some sort of large machine on the roof sporting the name Fenton on it. We became intangible and flew right into Danny's room where the child released me.

"You're back," Sam said in surprise sitting on the edge of Danny's bed. Ignoring her, I ran straight to his side.

He was muttering under his breath.

_"Got a secret_

_Can you keep it?_

_Swear this one you'll save"_

"Danny?" I said taking his hand. His blue eyes were glazed over, his skin was a sickly grayish colour, and he was pouring sweat.

_"Better lock it in your pocket_

_Taking this one to the grave"_

"Danny, it's Aralyne."

He stopped muttered and his eyes suddenly focused on me. "Aralyne," he said weakly. I suddenly began crying and I smiled at him.

"Yes, Danny, it's me."

"I'm sorry. I should have told you from the start, but Grandpa made me swear to never tell."

"No, I'm sorry," I replied shaking my head, "You're my best friend and I shouldn't have been mad at you this long!"

His eyes glazed over once more and he went back to muttering.

_"If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said_

_'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"_

"Please, Danny, get better," I begged brushing his hair back out of his face, "I can't bear to lose you."

_"Yes, two can keep a secret if one of them is dead_

_Yes, two can keep a secret if one of us is..."_

He suddenly stopped muttering and his eyes were completely lifeless.

"Danny?" Sam said but he didn't respond.

"D-Danny?" I stammered shifting my fingers so they fell over his wrist. I didn't feel a pulse. The whole room began to tilt and I felt like my world was falling apart. "_Danny!_ _Danny, no!_" My legs shook and I collapsed onto the floor. My tears were blurring my vision as I wailed. Danny Fenton was dead.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

I kept staring at Danny's still form, screaming out his name as if by some miracle he would get up. A part of me was wishing that this was some horrible nightmare that I would soon wake up from, but the whole scene kept dragging out. Someone came and gently pried my hand from Danny's and pulled me into their embrace. I don't know who it was, nor did I care. I turned and buried my face into their torso screaming. The person then lifted me up off the ground and carried me away. I didn't care. I couldn't stand this much longer.

Over my sobs, I could hear voices.

"Where are you taking her?"

"To the Benbow Inn. She needs time to grieve."

That second voice rumbled from the chest I was clinging to and recognized it as Tulio's.

"Who was it? The one that just..." That was Alyss.

"His name was Danny. He was her best friend," Tulio replied. I screamed even louder and clenched his shirt into my fist, my fingernails digging into the palm of my hand.

After a while I heard the voices of Mrs. Hawkins, and Jim and a few other people.

"Aralyne! She's back!"

"What's wrong with her?"

I could hear Flynn quickly explain what had happened, but Tulio carried me away from it all.

Finally, he deposited me on a soft surface and I peeked up just long enough to see I was in my room at the Benbow Inn. There Tulio continued to hold me as I sobbed into his chest. My head was starting to hurt, and I felt sick from crying so much in such a short amount of time. A few minutes later I had managed to calm down a bit, buy my heart felt as if it was being torn apart. _Danny was dead!_

There was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," said Alyss.

Then, "How is she?" Grandpa?

Tulio stiffened, and he growled out, "What's that bastard, Hatori, doing here?"

"I brought him in case the deed needed to be done again. I know how close she was to Danny," Grandpa replied.

Tulio tried pulling away from me, but I didn't let him go. Then a soft hand pried my fingers loose from his shirt.

"Come here, Aralyne," said Catherine softly taking me into her arms instead. Peering over her arm, I watched the whole exchange.

Grandpa and Hatori stood in the doorway with Tulio and Flynn blocking their way into the room.

"What do you _mean_ 'in case the deed needed to be done again'? You may have erased her memories of me, but you _can't _do that to her best friend!" Tulio practically shouted.

"Tulio, she _can't_ be distracted by something as trivial as emotions! With her gone, Siren has attacked several times already! More people have _died!_" Grandpa said through clenched teeth.

"You don't _understand_ do you?!" Tulio roared, "She _needs_ to be able to feel these things! Without her emotions, she might as well be _Siren!_" I was surprised that he would defend me in such a way. "Neither one of you will be coming near her ever again!" And with that, he slammed the door shut, shaking the room.

* * *

><p>Aralyne had eventually cried herself to sleep, and Catherine left her on the bed to sit on the floor with her sister. Tulio and Flynn were pacing the room, keeping others from entering.<p>

"Tell us about Siren," said Alyss tucking the skirt of her dress under her legs, "I'm curious to know more."

"What's to know?" Flynn muttered, "She's an evil, conniving, _bitch._"

Tulio shot him an angry look, but didn't say anything.

"Aralyne had told us that Siren was her dark side," Catherine said.

"She _is _Aralyne," Tulio said coming to a halt and staring at the sleeping young woman.

"What?" the girls asked in bewilderment, blinking up at him.

"I'm sorry did you just say what I think you said?" Alyss demanded.

With a sigh, Flynn said, "Yes. In a way, Siren _is _Aralyne, but at the same time, she's not."

"Wait, wait, wait. So let me go over what Aralyne told us," said Catherine, "Siren is Aralyne's dark side, but after they were separated she is now her own person and is causing havoc?"

The men replied, "Yes."

"How did you figure that out so quickly?" Tulio asked.

"And Siren looks exactly like Aralyne, except with red eyes, correct?" added Alyss.

"Okay, let us explain from our point of view," said Flynn, "A couple of months after her arrival in Incantationen, Aralyne was kidnapped by Rothbart and taken to the Horned King. She had gone missing for a month.

"Yes," Catherine nodded, "She said he had taken her heart and that's how Siren came about.

"When they shared a body, you could always tell who was in charge. When Siren surfaced, her eyes would turn an eerie scarlet colour and she would go on a killing spree for no reason," said Tulio, "I was able to keep her under control until we got her heart back. That's when we thought Siren vanished forever."

"A bit before Aralyne's memories were erased, Tulio vanished and we all thought he was dead. Aralyne had hit a depression, and that's what caused this whole mess," Flynn explained.

"But as you can plainly see, I'm _not_ dead, but I couldn't return right away, either," said Tulio, "I had been attacked by pirates."

"Who we later found out were working for Siren," added Flynn, "And that's how we discovered Siren managed to acquire her own body."

"Hmm," said Alyss rolling her eyes upward in thought, "I wonder what would happen if one or the other feels a particularly strong feeling?"

"Well, the other must feel it at some level," said Catherine, but if Siren discovers this, then she could use that to her advantage and might be able to control Aralyne."

The men stared at them in confusion and slight alarm. "_What?!_"

"What are you talking about?!" Tulio demanded.

"Control Aralyne?" Flynn inquired, "Not possible! They're two different people! There's no connection between them!"

"It's just a theory," said Alyss calmly, "And, yes, the two of them are still connected."

"How can they still be connected? They have separate bodies!" Flynn insisted.

"Siren was a part of Aralyne, yes?" Catherine said patiently.

"Yes," the men said.

"Separate bodies or not they are _still _connected. Siren is Aralyne's dark side with a life of her own but is _still _a part of Aralyne," Alyss explained, "No one can truly be rid of their dark side. If my theory is correct... you can't destroy Siren without killing Aralyne."

Once again, they both shouted out, "_What?!_"

"You're saying if we kill Siren, we'll kill Aralyne?" Tulio demanded horrified.

With a nod Catherine said, "The only one who can kill Siren without killing Aralyne is Aralyne."

"I hope you're wrong about this," Tulio said turning to look at the sleeping woman once more.

* * *

><p>When I woke up, I wasn't that all surprised to find Alyss and Catherine asleep in Melody's old bed. What <em>did<em> surprise me was finding Tulio slumped against the door completely knocked out. Everything that had happened the previous day came crashing down on me. My heart physically hurt like it was being ripped to shreds. I started to hyperventilate. Jumping out of bed, I raced to the bathroom, locking the door behind me. Falling to the floor, I started crying all over again.

_Danny!_

A few minutes later, I heard knocking on the door.

"Aralyne? Are you okay?"

I silently cursed myself. I had gone to the bathroom to try and muffle the sound of my sobbing, but I guess that didn't help. Damn!

"I'm - I'll be fine," I sniffled making a great effort to not make my voice crack.

"Are you sure?" Catherine inquired.

"Yes," I replied.

Tulio's voice came out muffled as he said, "I'm going to my house for a bit. Do you think you can look after her until I get back?"

"Yeah, we'll take care of her," said Alyss.

It got quiet on the other side of the door, and I cried until I had a headache and was no longer able to produce tears. Instead, I just stared a the wall, remembering every time I had spent with Danny - the good and the bad.

Finally, I heard Tulio return.

"Is she still in there?"

"Yes," answered the sisters.

"She stopped crying a while ago, but we can hear her sniffling," Alyss said.

"Aralyne," said Tulio approaching the bathroom door, "Aralyne, the Fentons were going to have Danny's funeral today if you wanted to go."

_The funeral!_

I slowly stood, my legs feeling like jelly, and unlocked the bathroom door. Opening it, I found Tulio and the sisters waiting for me.

"I want to go," I croaked out, "I have to go for -" My lip started trembling and I bit it to make it stop.

Tulio left the room so that I could change into a black dress, and I returned to the bathroom briefly to wash my face and use water to comb out the tangles in my hair. Leaving my hair down, the girls and I left the room where we found Tulio waiting for us in the hall. Together, the four of us left the Benbow Inn, and were soon joined by Flynn Rider.

Over at the cemetery, we stood with the Fentons and everyone that had loved Danny. There were many I recognized, including Grandpa. I wasn't the only one to notice him. Tulio had shifted closer in my direction.

While Jazz spoke about how great he was, my gaze wandered over the other graves. A majority of them were looking fresh, and a part of me wondered what had happened while I was gone.

Then without warning, I could feel anger swelling up inside of me to a boiling point...

* * *

><p>"<em>WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE DEAD?!<em>" Siren shrieked glaring down at Prince Eric from her throne.

"The fish are terrible gossips," said Eric, "that's how I found out about this. Aralyne is responsible for Flotsam and Jetsam being zapped... again, and some prince from the Southern Isles had killed Ursula. As for Morgana, Aralyne had frozen her in a block of ice."

Siren's eyes narrowed in thought. Flotsam, Jetsam, and Ursula could be brought back from the dead with the help of Chernabog, no problem, but Morgana? She wasn't technically dead, so she couldn't be brought back to life. And if she was buried somewhere in the ocean, it would be nearly impossible to find her! Aralyne was so meddlesome! She had to get rid of the Queen... but how? And who was this prince that killed Ursula? Siren would have to deal with him, too.

"I don't care how it's done, I don't care who does it, but I want Aralyne _DEAD!_ _Am I understood?!_" Siren yelled, her eyes flashing dangerously.

* * *

><p>I blacked out for a moment, and suddenly felt dizzy, nearly falling over if Tulio hadn't caught me. Looking up I saw everyone staring at me in what could only be horror. Catherine and Alyss looked worried. What happened? Did I miss something? My head felt like it was full of cotton, and my legs shook.<p>

"I think I... need to lie down," I muttered pressing a hand to my forehead.

Tulio scooped me up into his arms and took me off to the side, away from everyone else. Flynn, Catherine, Alyss, and Flynn followed.

"Aralyne, are you okay?" Tulio inquired brushing strands of my hair away from my face.

"I... I don't know," I said, "I don't feel..." Everything became fuzzy, before blacking out once more...

* * *

><p>Lao Shi stared after Aralyne, his eyes narrowing a bit worried. During Jazz's speech, Aralyne's eyes suddenly flashed red and she shouted out, "<em>WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE DEAD?!<em> I don't care how it's done, I don't care who does it, but I want Aralyne _Dead! Am I understood?!_" When Aralyne's eyes faded back to a golden brown, she had a confused look upon her face as if she were lost and then Tulio took her away. A suspicion began to grow in his mind.

* * *

><p>Catherine and Alyss knew that their theory was correct: there was still a connection between Aralyne and Siren. And they knew everyone at the funeral noticed this.<p>

"How is she?" Catherine inquired moving closer to Tulio.

"She... fainted," he replied looking back at her.

They stayed off at a distance until the funeral was over and everyone - well, _almost_ everyone - left. Lao Shi stayed behind and walked over to them.

"Tulio, we need to talk," said Nesidy's leader.

"About what?" Tulio demanded shifting his body so that he stood between the old dragon and Aralyne.

"We just need to talk if you value Aralyne's safety as it concerns her too," said Grandpa.

"What?" Tulio growled out suspiciously.

"I believe that Aralyne and Siren are still connected in some way," said Grandpa. Turned out he had the exact same theory as Alyss and Catherine. "If either of them are feeling a particularly strong emotion at the same time, the connection between them intensifies, and if it continues, Siren may notice and use it to her advantage. As far as I know, neither one of them is aware."

"We kind of figured that out," said Catherine exchanging a look with her sister.

"And we explained it to Tulio and Flynn," Alyss added.

Grandpa continued, "She looked deadly for a few moments when her eyes flashed red, like she wanted to _kill_ someone during her outburst."

"How do I protect her from this?" Tulio demanded, "If Aralyne finds out about the connection, it will destroy her!"

"Don't tell her," Alyss suggested, "but don't lie to her, either. She's still having trust issues."

"For all we know it was a fluke," Catherine said, "It only happened once. So we will consider it a fluke. Understand?"

"Of course I won't tell her!" Tulio said sounding exasperated, "You have no idea what we went through the first time we dealt with Siren! What _she _went through! She nearly _killed _herself!" He cringed recalling that day, before they had gotten her heart back from the Queen of Hearts.

_He heard the screams and pushed his way through the crowd to see Aralyne with scarlet eyes trying to kill Danny Phantom._

_"What's wrong, Danny?" she simpered sweetly, "You're not going to fight me? Afraid of killing the love of your life?" When he didn't answer, her sneer widened. "Well, I have no qualms about doing this." She started heading towards the right, and as he moved out of the way, she suddenly changed direction, and stabbed him in the chest before he could turn intangible._

"ARALYNE, NO!" _Tulio shouted running forward, grabbing her below the shoulders._

_"Danny?" she said as Danny backed away. The Phantom boy became intangible for a brief moment so that the sword left his body and she released the hilt with a shriek. The weapon clattered upon the ground. _"DANNY!" _Aralyne cried catching him in her arms as he fell, blood pouring from his wound. His weight was too much for her to bear, and they both collapsed to the ground and she cradled him in her arms, wailing like a child. _"Danny! Danny, I'm so sorry!"

_"Aralyne," Danny said weakly, blood dripping from his lips, "You're back." With what little strength he had, he lifted himself up slightly, placing a hand upon her cheek. He then leaned forward and kissed her. Danny suddenly fell back, his eyes shut, and no longer moving._

"Danny?! Danny!"

_Others in the crowd were surrounding them, and Tulio gave them a warning look as they began to speak._

_"Did you see that?"_

_"She _killed _them!"_

_"Aralyne slaughtered them all!"_

_Aralyne's head shot up and through the tears, she could see everyone glaring at her or looking terrified. She herself looked horrified, her eyes widening, unable to believe what she had done. Keeping Danny on her lap, she picked up the sword once more, and everyone gasped. She then poised the weapon so that she may stab herself, but before she could make a move, however, Tulio quickly reached forward and grasped her wrist. Startled, Aralyne looked up at him. He took the sword from her as several people rushed forward to take Danny from her._

Tulio blinked, returning to the present.

"And what if it's _not _a fluke?!" Grandpa demanded of the sisters, "_You've _never dealt with Siren before and don't know what she's capable of!"

"Stop yelling, or you'll all wake her!" Catherine ordered, glaring the men, "Look, I know Alyss and I are going to face her at some point, but good always wins over evil!"

"You didn't answer my question! How do I protect Aralyne from this?!" Tulio snapped at Lao Shi, "If _anything _happens to Aralyne -"

"Then we're all doomed," said Grandpa before turning to leave.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

_(Song in this chapter is "My Confession" by Josh Groban)._

When I woke up again, I was in my room at the Benbow Inn, and was still in my black dress. Alyss and Catherine were sitting in the other room reading books. I wonder if they had gone to the library.

"Hey," I said sitting up and grabbing their attention.

"You're awake," said Catherine smiling as she set down her book.

"How are you feeling?" Alyss inquired.

I shrugged and stared down at the floor. Honestly, I felt depressed. My best friend had _died_, after all! I remember going to the funeral, but after that, my memory was a blank. "What happened?"

"You fainted," the girls said simultaneously.

"And Tulio brought you back," added Catherine. I glanced up at them to see Catherine's eyes glinting mischievously. Oh no, not them, too!

"I want to go back to the cemetery," I declared getting out of bed.

"Okay, we'll go with you," said Alyss finally closing her book. I nodded my head and left the room with the girls following behind me.

As I was making my way down the stairs, I heard a guitar playing and someone singing.

_"I have been blind_

_Unwilling _

_To see the true love _

_You're giving._

_I have ignored every blessing._

_I'm on my knees _

_Confessing"_

When I reached the bottom, I came to a complete halt, finding that it was Tulio sitting in a chair in the dining area, his eyes on the guitar. Some people were watching his performance while they ate.

_"That I feel myself surrender_

_Each time I see your face._

_I am staggered by your beauty,_

_Your unassuming grace._

_And I feel my heart is turning,_

_Falling into place._

_I can't hide it_

_Now hear my confession."_

His head lifted and his gaze landed on me. Heat entered my face and my heart started fluttering, but I couldn't stop watching his performance.

_"I have been wrong about you._

_I thought I was strong without you._

_For so long _

_Nothing could move me._

_For so long _

_Nothing could change me._

_Now I feel myself surrender_

_Each time I see your face._

_I am captured by your beauty,_

_Your unassuming grace._

_And I feel my heart is turning,_

_Falling into place._

_I can't hide it_

_Now hear my confession."_

"So _that's _where he went off to," Alyss mused elbowing my arm, "I kind of figured he wouldn't be that far from your side."

"He's not half bad, either." I could hear the smirk in Catherine's remark, but ignored them both.

_"You are the air that I breathe._

_You're the ground beneath my feet._

_When did I stop believing?_

_Cause I feel myself surrender_

_Each time I see your face._

_I am staggered by your beauty,_

_Your unassuming grace._

_And I feel my heart_

_Falling into place._

_I can't hide it_

_Now hear my confession._

_I can't hide it_

_Now hear my confession."_

"Did you still want to go to the cemetery?" Alyss inquired.

"Hmm?" I said looking back at her blankly.

"To go see Danny," Catherine added.

_Danny!_ Tulio's playing had driven the thought from my mind.

_"Hear my confession"_

"Yes," I said turning away from Tulio as he was finishing up the tune on the guitar. The girls and I left the inn and made it to the cemetery without a problem. I ran straight to Danny's grave and knelt down before the headstone. Alyss and Catherine stood some distance off and watched silently.

"I'm so sorry, Danny," I said fresh tears spilling from my eyes, "I didn't mean for this to happen." Using the sleeve of my dress, I wiped the tears away. "And I'm sorry to both of you," I added without looking at the sisters, "I didn't mean to drag you into all of this. If you want, I can take you back to the Southern Isles."

"Don't be ridiculous," said Catherine as they joined my side, "We'd much rather be here with you."

"And besides," Alyss added, "After helping you, Tulio, and Flynn, I doubt we'd be welcomed back in the Southern Isles. But, who cares! That part of the royal family is full of douchebags!"

I couldn't help but laugh at that.

* * *

><p>Siren needed to vent her anger and what better way than to cause more mayhem to Aralyne's friends? And even better, the little wretch was in Nesidy, so perhaps she could kill Aralyne herself. The villainess transported herself to the middle of the woods right in between Nesidy and the neighboring village.<p>

"Time to get this party started," she sneered waving her hand over the ground. The earth around her shook and cracked open, scarlet light shooting up from below her feet. When the quake stopped, a sickly gray webbed hand emerged from the crevice. Dr. Facilier crawled out from the depths of Tartarus, his clothes torn, his top hat tilted to the side covering a hole on the right side of his skull. His eyes were an inky black and pale yellow, his hair having clumps of dirt in it. Facilier's mouth was twisted in a horrible grin, his dark gray tongue stretching out to three feet, dripping black saliva.

"You know what to do," Siren giggled crossing her arms over her chest. With her dark magic, her transformed herself into a black shadow and followed her new toy around.

They didn't get far when they heard two voices speaking and Siren zoomed past her zombie to see who the victims were to be. Naveen and Kidagakash. This was going to be fun!

"I heard so many were being killed by an evil force," said Kida, "Do you think we'll be able to do anything to help?"

"We've got to do something," Naveen replied, "These are my friends being attacked, and it must stop."

And that's when Zombie Facilier struck. He moved much faster than the other undead Siren had created and was on top of Naveen and Kida in a moment.

"What is _that?!_" Kida cried as they stared at the creature in horror.

"Faldi faldonza!" Naveen gasped.

Facilier's disgusting tongue shot out and wrapped around Kida, pinning her arms to her side.

"Kida!" Naveen shouted running to her rescue, pulling out a sword from the scabbard attached to his belt.

Facilier simply smirked, reached into his pants pocket, and held up several tarot cards. The zombie tossed the cards at Naveen and he dodged most of them. One, however, became embedded in left thigh and he looked down horrified to see the card had razor sharp edges. Even worse, the picture had a voodoo doll filled with pins and right below it was the word _REVENGE_. After pulling the tarot card out of his leg, he glanced back up to see Faciler held one more card. The picture was of a skull and in the word was _DEATH_.

"Naveen, look out!" Kida shouted, struggling to reach her own sword.

Facilier flicked his wrist and the _Death_ card soared towards Naveen. He didn't get a chance to move before it sliced right through his neck, the head soaring through the air. The zombie chuckled as it picked up the head from the mud and tied it to his pants.

"_NO!_" Kida shrieked finally grabbing her sword. With a final twist, she managed to get her arm free and sliced at Facilier's slimy tongue. The zombie hissed before releasing his captive and sprinting off in the direction of Nesidy.

Still in her shadow form, Siren giggled and followed her minion all the way to the town. She had arrived in time to see everyone's reaction to another zombie attack. The sound of horrified screams was just bliss.

And that's when she saw Tulio running out of the Benbow Inn. She stared at him for a moment in disbelief. He was supposed to be _dead!_ With a cry of rage, Siren spun around and transported herself back to her castle, no longer in her shadow form.

_"HOOK!"_ she roared, causing the whole building to shake. Bits of debris and dust fell from the ceiling.

The pirate she wanted never showed up, instead it was Chernabog that entered her room.

"_Where is Hook?!"_ she screeched her eyes flashing dangerously.

"He's dead, Mistress of the darkness," replied the giant black demon, "Killed by Aralyne and Peter Pan."

"_WHAT?!"_ Siren then screamed long and loud, her whole body glowing red and her hair standing up on end.

* * *

><p>A few seconds after laughing at Alyss's remark on the Southern Isles royal family, Aralyne suddenly froze, her eyes flashing scarlet. The sisters watched her warily, aware of what was happening. At the same time, they heard screaming coming from Nesidy.<p>

"Not again," said Catherine nervously.

Aralyne cried out in rage before screaming at the top of her lungs, "_HOOK!_" A few seconds went by and she continued, _"Where is Hook?!_" A few more seconds passed. _"WHAT?!_" And she screamed like the women in horror movies possessed by demons. What scared the sisters, however, was the fact that Aralyne started glowing red and her short curls stood up.

"Aralyne!" a voice shouted, and they turned to see Tulio racing towards them. Reaching their side, he grasped Aralyne by the shoulders, and the glow faded. Her scream died out, her hair flopped back down, and she slumped against him, her eyes closing.

* * *

><p>Facilier had used black voodoo magic to turn Louis the alligator into a zombie. The reptile's eyes turned an eerie scarlet, and he doubled in size. The flesh around his head fell off in pieces, exposing his skull, his fangs dripped with black poison. As if by some dark instinct, he turned and began attacking people.<p>

Tiana tried escaping from the deadly alligator, but it was useless. The zombie reptile clamped his jaws about her waist, taking a huge chunk out of her side. Tiana screamed, feeling the black poison burn through her veins. She collapsed and writhed on the ground as she began her transformation. Her skin turned a sickly gray and her eyes now became black and a pale yellow. When she stopped moving, she slowly sat up, and grabbed Lottie's ankle as she ran by. Lottie fell to the ground and screamed when she saw what had tripped her. Tiana crawled closer, pinning Lottie down, and bit the blonde's throat. Grabbing Lottie's head, Tiana twisted until the head snapped off, and she slowly stood, blood dripping from her lips as she went for her next victim.

* * *

><p>Kida had followed Facilier to Nesidy, completely distraught of what happened to Naveen, and she wanted revenge. Upon her arrival, she found the town in chaos, and quickly followed the screaming crowd to her target. She snuck up behind the zombie and raised her sword to strike him down, but it was almost like he knew she was there. In one swift movement, he swiveled around and pressed a tarot card upon her skin. Kida froze as a cold sensation swept over her. The card was absorbed into her skin, glowing an eerie white. From there, white cracks appeared all over her body looking like veins and her eyes turned a blinding white. Just like the other monsters, she was now under Siren's power, and turned to do her mistress's bidding. Dropping her sword, she turned and walked through the screaming crowd. With each person she passed, she simply placed a hand upon them, and they turned into giant crystals. As a side affect, she herself began to turn into a walking crystal little by little.<p>

* * *

><p>I felt dizzy and was glad someone was holding me up or I would have fallen. Through the fog in my brain I could hear people screaming, but I didn't know why.<p>

"Tulio, what's going on?" I heard Alyss say.

_Tulio?_

"Not sure," Tulio's voice rumbled from beside my ear, "It looked like a zombie attack."

_Zombie attack?_ I vaguely remember Doctor Possible telling me about Belle turning into a zombie. Could the same thing be happening again?

I weakly pushed myself away from Tulio and tried standing on my own. "Have to... help..." I muttered. I teetered on my feet and Alyss grabbed me before I toppled over.

"No, we need to get you out of here," Tulio said, "You're too weak to do anything."

_Too weak?_ I couldn't remember what happened during the past few minutes, but my throat hurt as if I had been screaming and I felt drained.

"_Tulio, look out!_" Catherine shouted.

I glanced up to see Kida half crystallized, and her eyes glowing white as she stalked towards us. "_Die,_" she hissed as she left an odd crystal trail behind her. Tulio dodged out of the way, grabbing a branch from a nearby tree and broke it off. He turned and swung the branch at her head. Her hand shot up, catching the wood, and it suddenly turned into crystal. Startled, Tulio dropped the branch.

"Get Aralyne out of here," Tulio shouted as he pulled out his sword.

Catherine grabbed my hand and the two sisters began running with me tow. I was still disoriented and kept tripping over my own feet. Suddenly, we heard Tulio grunt, and a crystal wall formed before us, blocking our path.

"Crap," said Alyss. We turned to see Tulio laying on the ground, his sword nearby entirely crystallized. Kida slowly moved towards us, her hand stretched out. We were trapped. Kida shot crystals at us, and the blast struck the sisters, knocking them to the ground. With no one and nothing to hold me up now, I collapsed, the world spinning. I weakly reached behind me to grab Excalibur, but couldn't get a firm hold on it.

"_Aralyne!_" someone voice shouted.

Right before Kida could touch me, I saw a black and white blur and the next thing I knew I had been scooped up into someone's arms and was flying away from the danger. Below, Alyss and Catherine gaped up at me in surprise before jumping to their feet and running away from Kida. I turned my head to find myself gazing into a pair of glowing green eyes. I shook my head to try and focus, and when my mind felt clear I stared at my rescuer in disbelief.

"_Danny?!_"


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Danny Phantom flashed me a smile. "Miss me?" he said.

"You're _alive!_" I gasped out, "But _how?_ I was _there!_"

"I'll explain later," he said setting me on the ground, "But first, let's deal with Kida." He zoomed off towards the crystal woman.

"Be careful!" I shouted after him.

Danny socked Kida in the face, sending her flying. When she got back to her feet, he went in for another punch, but she caught his fist and I gasped, sure he was done for. Except... nothing happened to him. He didn't turn into a crystal. In fact, he seemed absolutely fine. The ghost boy smirked, twisted in her grip and kicked her, sending her flying once more.

"Aralyne, are you okay?" Tulio demanded sprinting towards me.

"I'm fine," I said staring after Danny. If this was a dream, I didn't want to wake up from it! Danny was _alive!_ It was almost as if nothing had happened! Catherine and Alyss joined us.

After watching Danny pummel Kida for a few minutes, he called out, "Aralyne, a little help here?"

I blinked and rushed forward, removing Excalibur from my back.

"Aralyne, don't!" Tulio shouted grabbing my arm. I turned and flashed him an angry look. "You'll get killed!"

"Let me go!" I snapped yanking myself free, "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself!" I ran forward once more, and swung my sword at Kida. Unlike Tulio's weapons, it glowed a golden light and actually went right through her. She screamed and shattered into a million pieces. That battle seemed a little _too_ easy.

"Come on," Danny said taking my hand, "Sounds like Nesidy's in trouble!" He flew us out of the cemetery and back into town.

The sight before us was terrible, and I was sure I was going to have nightmares about this for the rest of my life. People were running through the streets screaming, there were dead bodies scattered around the place, buildings had been destroyed. Dr. Facilier, Tiana, and Louis were all zombies attacking those unfortunate enough to get caught. I shuddered involuntarily. This was worse than the Horned King creating an army of cauldron born!

Grandpa, Jake, and Haley were all in their dragon forms fighting off Louis as best as they could without being bit or struck by the zombies.

"Help has arrived!" Danny shouted, grabbing the dragons' attention. They gaped at us - well, specifically Danny - in shocked disbelief.

"_Danny?!_" the Long siblings exclaimed.

He winked at them before zooming past towards Facilier. "Heads up, Shadow Man!" He tossed me towards the zombie. I did a flip in the air, landed on top of Facilier's shoulders, and thrust the sword into his head. Much like what had happened to Kida, he cried out and disintegrated.

"One down, two more to go," I said turning to face the other zombies.

Unfortunately, Louis decided to focus on me, and with the dragons distracted, he charged in my direction, his mouth open wide, black poison dripping from his large, sharp teeth. I raised my sword to strike him, but he was smart for a zombie. Without hesitation, his tail whipped out and smacked my hands, sending Excalibur flying. _Uh-oh!_ Louis faced me once more, and I slowly backed up, my heart hammering in fear. When he lunged at me, I cringed, expecting to feel his awful teeth tearing into my flesh, but instead, I heard a _whack _and a _crash!_ When I opened my eyes, I saw Danny had knocked Louis into a building. The alligator turned and snapped his jaws at the ghost boy, catching him in the thigh. Danny grunted in pain.

"_No!_" I shouted. I couldn't lose Danny so soon after getting him back!

Danny seemed unfazed as he punched Louis in the face, and turned intangible to get his leg back. To my utter amazement, the bite mark quickly healed, leaving nothing, not even a scar! The only evidence of him being attacked was a hole in his pants. I sighed in relief.

Turning back to the dragons, I said, "Jake! Haley! Blast Tiana with fire! That should kill her! Grandpa! Help me find Excalibur!" Yeah, I kind of lost sight of my sword when Louis struck me. The dragons nodded and flew off in different directions. I ran to the general direction I knew Excalibur had disappeared to and began digging through the rubble.

"Aralyne, over there!" Grandpa shouted, pointing to my right. I turned my head to see it gleaming, half of it underneath a piece of rubble that had fallen off the building Louis had slammed into. Grasping the hilt, I tried pulling it out, but it was stuck. Lao Shi arrived at my side and lifted the piece of building off my weapon.

"Thanks," I said picking it up and running back to Danny and Louis.

"Aralyne!" I turned to see Alyss and Catherine had arrived as bluebirds and transformed into humans beside me.

"Tulio's on his way and told us to make sure you don't end up in trouble," said Catherine.

"A little late for that," I grumbled, "Besides, he's not the boss of me!"

Danny screamed as he suddenly flew over our heads and crashed into a different building. Looks like Louis finally fought back, and now the alligator was heading for us. He swung his tail in my direction once more.

"Look out!" Alyss shouted yanking me into a crouch. The tail passed by harmlessly above us, and Catherine simply jumped backwards out of its reach. Grandpa soared towards the alligator and connected with the zombie, causing him to skid across the street. Unaffected by the attack, Louis used his tail to grab Lao Shi and sent him flying across town. The zombie turned his snapping jaws towards the sisters and me. Before we could do anything, Tulio appeared, grabbed me by the waist and rolled out of harm's way. The sisters quickly followed.

"I told you to keep her out of trouble!" he snapped at the girls.

"Will you quit!" I shouted, pushing him away, "I had this under control!"

"Get your ass to safety now!" he yelled in my face pointing off to a part of town that hadn't been hit by the zombies.

"You can't tell me what to do!" I snapped back. And to prove my point, I jumped to my feet and ran back towards the alligator.

"Dammit, woman!" I heard Tulio shout.

Louis swung his tail at me again, and this time, I was ready. I waited until the last possible moment before slashing my sword. The blade sliced right through his tail, and it landed beside me, turning to dust. With a roar, Louis turned towards me, his jaw snapping. I jumped backwards, but unfortunately, his teeth scraped against my forearm. Hissing in pain, I dropped Excalibur. Louis would have eaten me then and there if Catherine hadn't appeared, dragging me backwards out of harm's way. Tulio then jumped forward, picking up Excalibur and thrust it into the zombie's neck. The alligator exploded into dust.

My forearm began to burn as if it were on fire, and the feeling quickly spread throughout my entire body. I screamed at the pain, and collapsed onto the ground, writhing. This hurt a lot worse than when I had been crushed saving Hercules's life! I could hear voices, but couldn't tell who was speaking.

"She's been poisoned!"

"We have to do something!"

"Quick! Give her to me!"

"What?!"

"Just do it!"

I was vaguely aware of someone holding me, but I don't know who it was. My vision had faded to nothing, but I was still conscious.

"Hold on, Aralyne! Don't you dare die on me, do you understand?!"

I don't know how much time had passed. It could have been hours, or even days, but finally I heard someone say.

"_Danny?!_"

"Zombie poison! Do something! Help her!"

"Here! Belladonna and Hemlock! Get it into her mouth!"

"But, those are poisonous!"

"Do it, or she'll suffer a fate worse than death!"

Something was stuffed into my mouth, and I choked on it, unable to scream anymore. Whatever it was slid down my throat, and gradually the burning sensation stopped. I gasped once I had swallowed everything and finally I lost consciousness.

* * *

><p>Feeling numb, Tulio stared down at the spot where Aralyne had been before Danny flew her off to who knew where. He had told her to get to safety, but she was just so stubborn! And now she was on her way to becoming a zombie! The sight of her transformation would forever be ingrained into his mind. The poison worked fast; in a matter of seconds, her skin had turned a deathly pale, and her eyes were an inky black. A few moments more and she would have been lost to him.<p>

"Tulio?" Catherine quietly said.

His head shot up and he glared at the sisters. "_I told you to keep her out of trouble! You couldn't do that simple task! Now she could be dead, or worse!_"

"It wasn't _our_ fault!" Alyss snapped, "You know her better than we do, so you should have known we wouldn't be able to do anything to stop her!"

"_If you were unable to protect her, then you should have stayed in the Southern Isles!_" Tulio roared in their faces.

They were unaffected by his temper, and Catherine simply replied, "Same goes for you." He took a step back in surprise. "You thought we didn't know who you are? Well, we do. Now stop acting like your family, and go check on the woman you love!"

Tulio scowled, took a deep breath and said, "I don't even know where Danny took her."

"Well is there someone here that knows how to cure poisons?" Alyss inquired.

"The doctors, the fairies, Sam..." His voice trailed off and he suddenly got his answer. "I know where he took her!" he shouted, turning and running down the street. The sisters followed closely behind. Within a matter of minutes, they arrived at a mansion, a sign on the front lawn reading _The Mansons_. Without bothering to knock, Tulio burst through the front door, startling Mr. and Mrs. Manson.

"What is the meaning of this?!" shouted Mrs. Manson.

"No time to explain," Tulio quickly said, "Where is Sam's room?!"

"Now see here, you can't just -"

"Upstairs, young man," said Grandma Manson rolling up in her wheel chair, "Second floor, last door on your right."

Tulio dashed upstairs, following the old woman's instructions. Just like with the front door, he threw the door open and found Sam and Danny locked in an embrace, the former crying into his shoulder. For a second Tulio was scared, but when Danny saw him, he simply nodded towards the back of the room. Tulio entered, moving around the couple to find Aralyne asleep on Sam's bed, and thankfully, she looked normal. He sat at the edge of the bed, brushing her hair out of her face.

"How is she?" Alyss asked, she and Catherine standing in the doorway. Tulio had forgotten about them.

"She'll be fine," said Danny.

Sam pulled away from him, wiping her tears away and glanced back at the girls. "Hi, I'm Sam Manson; Danny's girlfriend. Are you friends of Aralyne?"

"Yes, we met her over at the Southern Isles," Catherine replied with a nod.

"Thank you for saving her," Tulio said without taking his eyes off Aralyne. He then leaned forward gently kissed her on the lips. When he pulled away, she began to stir.

* * *

><p>I opened my eyes to see Tulio sitting <em>very<em> close. I flushed until I noticed Danny, Sam, Catherine, and Alyss standing behind him. Catherine had a little smirk on her lips as she regarded me. I so didn't want to know what was going through her mind right now.

"How are you feeling?" Alyss inquired.

I sat up and looked about me, not recognizing the room. "Fine. Tired. Where am I?"

"My room," Sam said, "Danny brought you when you got zombie poison in your system. The belladonna and hemlock I gave you cancelled out the infection."

"Thanks, Sam," I said smiling at her.

Catherine moved forward, nudging Tulio aside and grabbed my hand. "Come on, let's get back to the Benbow Inn to get some food in you." I nodded my consent and she helped me off of Sam's bed. With Tulio sitting on the edge, I had to wiggle around him, and my arm brushed against his, earning me another smirk from Catherine. I shot her a warning look, which she happily ignored. "And you," she said turned to Danny, grasping his free hand, the other being occupied by Sam's, "You need to explain how and why you're not rotting in the ground!"

She began dragging us out of the room, but Tulio called out to me, "Aralyne."

I paused and turned to him. Honestly, I had expected him to yell at me for not listening to him, but he surprised me by remaining silent until this point.

"Here." He held Excalibur out to me and I took it, gazing up at him. "I'm glad you're okay." Tulio stood up, and walked around us, leaving the room.

"Ah," I managed to squeak out. Surprisingly, I was disappointed he was leaving. With a sigh, I glanced over to see Alyss looking slightly amused, Danny giving me a sad look, and Catherine grinning widely. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," Catherine said in a singsong voice, rolling her eyes upwards.

We all left Sam's mansion and made it to the Benbow Inn. After helping Mrs. Hawkins clean up the mess that was a product of the chaos, we ate a small meal of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. While I ate, I wanted to cry, thinking of poor Tiana. I was never going to see her again, or eat her food, or listen to her jokes or stories. She was one of my dearest friends and now she was gone!

"Now, explain," Catherine ordered looking at Danny, who strangely didn't eat a thing, "How are you alive?"

Danny lowered his green gaze and quietly replied, "I'm not."


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight

_(Brief lyrics in this chapter are from the song "RemEmber" by Ember McLain.)_

"What do you mean you're not alive?" I stammered out, all of us staring at him, "You're sitting right here! We can see you, and touch you, and -"

"I'm - _was_ half ghost, right?" he said and Sam and I nodded. Of course, Catherine and Alyss didn't know him before he died, "Well, Danny _Fenton_ is who you saw die, which means I'm all ghost now. Permanently Danny _Phantom_. Shortly after I turned fourteen, my parents had built a machine designed to be a portal into a ghost zone. When it didn't quite work, my folks quit, but when Dani and I took a look inside, I pushed the power button, and there was was a great big flash. Something happened, and we ended up as half ghost. Honestly, I'm glad for that accident, or I wouldn't be here talking to you."

I didn't say anything, but instead peered outside the nearest window. Lao Shi had managed to contact the fairies, and they were helping rebuild the town, again. Meanwhile, many Nesidy citizens were helping pick up the dead bodies littering the ground. I suddenly lost my appetite and shoved my sandwich towards Alyss, who greedily took it.

Danny then stood up and said, "I have to go see my family, so I'll see you later?"

"I'll go with you," Sam automatically said. I didn't blame her for not wanting to be away from him. A part of me wanted to stay by his side.

"Okay," I said getting up to give him a hug, "I'm glad you're here, Danny."

When he and Sam left, the sisters and I still sat at the table. I stared at the glass of iced tea before me and made random shapes in the condensation.

"Sooooo, Aralyne," said Catherine, and I looked glanced up at her. She had a sneaky grin on her face and asked, "what do you think of Tulio?"

I felt my face turn red. "What do you mean?" I muttered.

She suddenly made a crude gesture and I almost died of embarrassment right in my seat. Catherine laughed at my reaction. Once she had calmed down, I felt the flush recede.

"I'm kidding," she said waving her hand at me, "But seriously, what do you think of him?"

"He's... good-looking, and smart, and brave, and... he surprises me," I admitted.

"How so?" asked Alyss.

"I don't know. It's almost like he knows me better than I know myself. It's kind of strange." I bit my lip and thought of how he was always taking care of me and trying to protect me, and my heart fluttered.

"Now here's another serious question for you," said Catherine, "Would you marry a man who was rich, or poor? A prince or a commoner?"

"I don't think money or social status matters," I said going back to making shapes in the tea glass's condensation, "What does matter is how much he loves me, and how much I love him. Anyways, I doubt I'd find anyone for me here in Incantationen." It didn't escape my notice that the sisters exchanged knowing glances. I _really_ hoped they weren't going to try and set me up with Tulio.

A drum solo started to play outside.

"What in the world?" said Catherine as we all exchanged confused looks. We rushed up to the nearest window where a truck with a sound-stage on it drove up in front of the Benbow Inn, with large amps and a black banner reading _EMBER_ in purple letters. It skid to a halt.

The amps blared with the drum solo. With a flash of light, the stage filled with billowing purple smoke. As it dissipated, a pale teenage girl with flaming blue hair stood on the stage wearing black clothing, and holding a guitar. There was another flash of light and cloud of purple smoke, and a blue skinned male sat at the drum set, playing a beat. Two more purple clouds went off and revealed two other backup members, one guy playing a purple ax, and the second one playing a green guitar in the shape of a skull.

The girl started playing her guitar and sang.

_"Yea-ah!"_

The others started playing as well.

_"Oh-oh-ah!_

_Oh-oh!"_

Alyss, Catherine, and I ran outside to get a better look at what was going on. We weren't the only ones, either. Every teenager on the block came forward as well, cheering.

"Hello, Nesidy!" the girl shouted, and everyone seemed to be entranced by her, "Tell me who you love!"

The crowd of teens chanted and pumped their hands up and down. "Ember! Ember!"

I stared at them all in surprise. I didn't know that Incantationen had teen idols.

The girl - Ember's hair began to surge into more intense flame. She grinned and said, "That's it, babies! Say my name! Are you ready for a little youth revolution?!"

Looking around, I found Danny and Sam standing not far, the former looking confused, and the latter, miffed.

"We love you, Ember!" someone shouted out.

"That's because I fill a void in your empty lives!" Ember replied, and I scoffed. Conceited much? I _hated_ pop stars that acted like they were God's gift to the world!

"You're right, Ember!" another person shouted.

Danny's ghost sense went off, which surprised me and I ran his way. "What is it?" I asked.

His eyes shifted about warily. "I don't know... Uh-oh."

We all followed his gaze to see Phoebus cutting a path through the crowd, his sword out. "Attention, freakishly dressed teen idol! I order you to cease and desist!"

"Desist this, grandpa!" Ember exclaimed turning a dial on her guitar. She strummed once, and a strange sound came out from the instrument. Purple rings zoomed out from it, expanding in a wave over the teens. They closed their eyes with bliss as the wave passed over them. When they opened their eyes again, they were red and glowing.

"Oh, no," I gasped.

Several kids turned around and looked at Phoebus with demonic red glares. The man was alarmed and came to a halt. Ember sneered.

"Ember's a ghost?" Danny said, "I gotta save Phoebus!" He jumped into the air and flew off.

A crowd of kids walked toward him all zombie-like, making me shudder. This was almost like when Kida came after me! Great, first a zombie attack less than two hours ago, and now this. Couldn't I get a bit of rest? Danny observed everything from overhead.

As the possessed kids went for Phoebus, Danny flew in to put his hands on Phoebus's back, turning the two of them intangible. A small mob of zombie teenagers rushed through them. As soon as they were gone, Danny released the older hero, and headed for the stage.

"Now to knock the pop princess off the," the ghost boy stopped and we all realized the stage, Ember, and her band had disappeared, "charts?"

All of the teenagers were suddenly back to normal, if not a little disoriented. Annoyed, Danny rejoined us.

"Hey! No encore? What's that all about?" someone from the crowd said.

"Guys, I just found these!" Catherine exclaimed running forward with a stack of magazines. I didn't even notice she had left. She read the titles of each magazine out loud as she passed them around.

"_I ROCK. NEW SMOLDERING SOUND_." There was a picture of Ember holding up the _rock on _fingers. "_MUSIC NEWS: EMBER!_" Ember with her guitar on a background of purple flames. "_HOT: Here's Ember._" Ember holding her guitar. "_CHART: Ember is on FIRE!_"

"She's everywhere!" Alyss said looking at a magazine with Ember's face on it.

"Who is she, exactly?" I asked.

"I'm going to guess she's an evil mind-controlling spirit from another dimension?" said Sam crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, but the same thing can be said about Siren," Danny remarked, and surprisingly, I was hurt by what he said. As evil as she was, Siren was still a part of _me_, even when I tried denying it.

"Hey, everyone!" Paulina (from _Danny Phantom_ of course) exclaimed running into the crowd wearing Ember merchandise, "Ember's giving away free concert tickets at Bucky's Music Megastore!" The teenagers suddenly ran off, cheering and I finally realized a great deal of them were wearing Ember apparel.

"Ember! Ember! Ember! Ember!"

"I still don't get why we're not affected by Ember's music," said Alyss thoughtfully and I shrugged.

"Come on, let's get to the music store," said Danny taking mine and Sam's hands. Catherine and Alyss turned into bluebirds and the five of us flew off over Nesidy.

As we headed for our destination, Danny was focused forward, Sam admired the town below us, and I looked up at Danny, inhaling slightly. The sun outlined his form and I had to admit he was incredibly good-looking. Too bad neither one of us had _those_ kinds of feelings for each other, and besides he had Sam, whereas I had... no one.

Almost as if he knew I were staring, he glanced back at me, a bit confused. "Are you okay, Aralyne?" I flushed and quickly looked away, but was fully aware of Sam shooting me a suspicious glance.

"It's just really nice up here, that's all. Flying's nice," I replied looking over at the two bluebirds beside us. Catherine and Alyss exchanged knowing glances and shook their heads at me.

"Danny, look out!" Sam exclaimed. Too late. He and I faced forward in time to slam into a giant cardboard cutout of Ember. The three of us fell and landed on our backs.

"Falling stinks," I groaned out releasing his hand.

The sisters reverted back to their human forms and stood above us.

"You guys okay?" Alyss inquired helping me back up onto my feet.

"We need to get inside," said Catherine helping up Danny and Sam. We found a door on the roof, and entered the music store. We were up on some sort of catwalk and could see everything below us. There was an arch that read "BUCKY'S" with a banner over it reading "EMBER" in big, purple letters. Two giant cutouts of Ember were on either side of the door, one strumming a guitar and the other was looking over the crowd with an evil expression. Teens were all over the ground and on the various floors and balconies cheering as Ember's music played.

_"Ooh, Ember! _

_So warm and tender! _

_You will remember my name!"_

There was a tower of video screens filling up the bottom row, left to right, showing Ember singing on her microphone.

A purple plume of smoke erupted on a balcony and cleared to reveal Ember standing there. The crowd of teenagers below us broke out screaming. Surprisingly, I saw, Jazz Fenton down there as well. What the hell?!

Ember was holding a bunch of yellow tickets in her hands and threw them out into the crowd. The bits of paper sailed through the air.

"Tell! Me! Who! You! Love!" Ember shouted out.

"Ember! Ember! Ember!"

Ember, held tightly on the edge of the balcony, smiling with the adoration. She leaned back, holding out her fists as her body began to glow green and her blue hair surged to up into a huge column of fire.

"Something tells me they're not gonna love seeing their idol sucked inside the Fenton Thermos," said Danny pulling the thermos out of his pocket.

"I think we can distract them," said Sam with a smirk, pulling four red sharpies out of _her_ pocket. She handed one to each of us girls. Running down the catwalk, we stopped at the giant cardboard cutouts, Sam and me at one, and the sisters at the other. We began drawing on the wooden Embers.

Below us, the teenagers kept cheering, but it suddenly stopped and there was a large collection of gasps right as we finished our work: red markings of glasses, a mustache, and a goatee on Ember's face. I grinned, admiring our art.

"Hey everybody! Look, it's Ember McLame!" Catherine shouted out.

I glanced down to see Ember was irritated. "Oh great. Some critics." She smirked. "Maybe you'll like my new song better!" She turned one of the dials on her guitar. Before she could do anything, Danny charged in through the air, and shot out green ghost rays from his palms. She was knocked away by Danny's energy blast, shrieking.

"Hey! Do you take requests? How about _Beat it?_" Danny suggested.

Ember, floated up into the air as she held her guitar at the ready. "How about I just lay down a few power chords instead, dipstick!" She strummed her guitar, sending a wave of green skulls after him.

Danny tried to unscrew the lid off the thermos, but was struck by the green skulls. He was knocked aside with the thermos flying towards the girls and me. It landed on the catwalk not far from me and started rolling away. I ran for it, and leaped off the catwalk right as it fell towards the crowd and caught it in midair. _Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_ Now I was falling with the thermos.

"Aralyne!"

"Oof!" I grunted when I felt two pairs of hands grab onto my ankles. _So_ glad I decided to wear leggings under my skirt today! With a sigh of relief, I glanced up to see Catherine and Alyss leaning over the rails, holding on to me. As they were pulling me back up, I decided to watch the fight between Danny and Ember.

Ember was floating near the ceiling giggling evilly as she strummed again. This time her blue hair wrapped all around her in a flame spiral as she vanished from view. The spiral thinned away into nothing. Danny flew in just as Ember disappeared. Turning around, he searched for her.

Finally, the sisters pulled me up to safety, and below us, the crowd of teens were still cheering on their teen idol.

Danny phased through the roof, and us females followed him through the door leading from the catwalk. We were in time to see him confront Ember.

"_Dipstick?_ Ho ho. Funny," he said flying towards the female ghost and trying to wrestle her down. Their hands shook with effort. "Who writes your insults? The same hack who writes your songs?"

The crowd had followed us outside, screaming Ember's name. Ember's ponytail flared up once more, and she grinned widely. She pushed forward and Danny groaned with the effort of keeping her at bay.

"Chanting... makes her stronger," Danny grunted out.

"You got that right, baby pop," Ember sneered, "And the more kids chanting, the stronger I get!" She finally pushed Danny aside.

The ghost boy flew through the air, wailing. He slammed into the giant Ember cutout, snapping a rope that kept it up. The cutout fell over, landing face-down with the hips keeping it on the roof, and the torso, arms and head were hanging off it.

"And if you think I'm strong now," said Ember evilly, floating before Danny, "just wait until midnight when my concert goes global, and the whole world's chanting my name! Then you'll all be my slaves!" As she said her last word, she strummed another power chord, unleashing a red sound wave that knocked Danny away, screaming. He landed on his back at the edge of the cutout's hips.

"Get away from him!" I shouted running forward with the thermos. Ember was still floating in the air, as she looked back at me. She smiled evilly.

"Aw, teen love! They say it never lasts, but nothing distracts teenagers more than hormones. And I need to keep you busy for the next eight hours…." She turned a dial on her guitar. "I have more than just music for you. Now that they're chanting my name my music _can _affect you!" She strummed her guitar and a multitude of pink hearts sprang out at me and Danny. "How about a love song!"


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Nine

_(Brief lyrics in this chapter are from the song "RemEmber" by Ember McLain.)_

From my back, Excalibur began to glow and created a force field around me. _What?!_ The force of Ember's magic, sent me and my force field flying over Danny and landing on the cutout's head. Unfortunately, Danny got the full force of the love wave. His eyes widened and glowed pink for a moment. The force field around me vanished and I stared down at the road below me. My heart got lodged in my throat as the cutout shifted under my weight. One wrong move, and I would fall to my death! Or at the very least have serious injuries.

Danny blinked, his eyes returning to their glowing green colour, and looked at me with an absent-minded, goofy, dreamy grin. _Uh-oh!_

"Well, I think I'll leave the new couple alone," said Ember, "Ciao, babies!" She became intangible, and disappeared through the roof, laughing evilly.

"New couple?" all of us girls said simultaneously.

"What the heck is she talking about?" Sam demanded.

Danny began to crawl closer to me and the cutout teetered, practically giving me a heart attack.

"Uh, Danny? Now would be a real good time to fly me off this thing," I nervously said. He didn't listen and came ever closer.

"Danny, stop!" the others shouted rushing toward us.

The cutout began to slowly tip over with the extra weight.

"Danny, wait! What are you doing?" I screamed.

He continued to crawl towards me with a dreamy, empty stare.

"Wow. I just never realized you're really pretty when you're about to fall off a building," he dreamily said to me.

"_What?!_" Sam shrieked coming to a halt.

_Can't worry about that now!_ "Danny? Get back! _Danny!_ Danny, stop! Don't come any closer!"

"But you're over there and I'm over here. I wanna be over there!" he said gesturing to me.

_Great logic, Danny! Just completely ignore the fact that I'm about to _fall off a building!

The expression on his face suddenly registered in my mind, "Wait, I know that look. That's that same, longing puppy-dog stare you give Sam!" _Or the one Tulio gives me... Whoa! _So_ not the time to be thinking of that!_

"Who's Sam?" he asked and from behind him, Sam gasped. I shot her an apologetic look.

Danny moved even closer, causing the balance to tip further to my side. I began to panic as I started sliding off. Suddenly, the cutout balanced out and I looked past Danny to see Alyss and Catherine each sitting on the cutout's legs.

"A little help here," I called out to them.

"We can't move unless you _want_ to fall to your death," Catherine pointed out.

"Sam?" I said nervously. Danny was really starting to scare me, and there was no way to escape from him.

Sam slowly crawled onto the cutout and inched her way to Danny. Unfortunately, that caused the cutout to wobble again.

"Aralyne!" a voice shouted below me, but I was too scared to look down and see who it was.

"We can't hold it anymore!" Alyss gasped, sweat now forming on her brow.

The cutout tipped, and I slid right off the end, screaming. I shut my eyes as I tumbled through the air, expecting to land on concrete. Instead, I landed in a pair of strong arms, and instinctively, I clutched onto the person's shirt. Slowly, I opened my eyes to find myself staring at a masculine chest beneath the shirt, and looked up into Tulio's face. He had a worried and almost scared expression, and I felt myself flush.

"Look out below!" Catherine shouted. Tulio and I both looked up to see the cutout toppling off the roof, and he ran out of the way just in time. It landed in the middle of the street with Danny and Sam hanging onto it for dear life. Thankfully, neither one of them seemed injured. Alyss and Catherine joined us moments later, flying from the roof as bluebirds.

I scrambled out of Tulio's arms and ran to Sam. She and Danny looked disoriented, and I hoped to use that to my advantage.

"Someone take Danny home, please. I'll help out Sam," I said hauling her to her feet. At first she glared at me, but then it faded and I quickly walked her home before Danny noticed me. And surprise, surprise, Tulio followed us.

"_What_ is going on?" he demanded, "I leave to my house for a couple of hours and find you _falling_ off a roof!"

"_Not_ my fault!" I snapped at him, then explained what had happened. When I got to the part about Danny being under a spell to fall in love with me, neither Sam nor Tulio looked happy about that.

Finally we got the the Manson mansion and Sam went inside, insisting she was fine, but I knew she wasn't. Her boyfriend had basically forgotten she existed to focus on _me_... _again!_

"Great," I muttered raking my hair back out of my face as Tulio and I stood outside the mansion, "On top of Siren creating zombies, I now have to deal with Danny flirting with me, again, as well as a psychotic pop teen idol ghost trying to take over the world!"

"No one ever said life was easy," Tulio said as we walked through Nesidy.

"Shut up," I snapped.

* * *

><p>Shortly after Catherine and Alyss dropped off Danny at his house and left, Jazz arrived home. And their parents didn't look to happy about it.<p>

"What is the matter with you kids?" Jack demanded of his children.

"You need to be preparing for another attack from Siren!" Maddie added.

Danny dreamily leaned against the wall. "How can I worry about Siren? All I can think about is Aralyne."

Jack and Maddie stared at him in surprise.

Jazz, on the other hand, had other things in mind. "What's wrong with you? Why aren't you thinking about Ember?"

"Well, I'm thinking about putting you both in the Fenton Stockades," said their father.

"Jack, we can't lock the kids in some medieval containment device," Maddie said.

"Oh, all right. We'll just _ground _them like every other parent," Jack pouted.

"I'm going to Ember McClain's midnight concert tonight," said Jazz grabbing her ghost brother by the arm and dragging him upstairs, "and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"You and your brother are not leaving this house, young lady!" Maddie exclaimed, blocking her path.

Jack said in a singsong tone, "Fenton Stockades!"

They all ignored him, and Jazz shoved her mother aside to go upstairs, dragging Danny along behind her. She dumped him in his room and went to her own, to stare at Ember's concert ticket. She had been lying in depression and misery on her bed for hours when a drumbeat began to play. Her eyes widened when she recognized the tune, and eagerly looked outside her window. Night had fallen a while ago, but she was still able to see Ember's van drive on by with music blaring from the megaphones up on the vehicle's roof.

_"Yeah! Whoaaoooaaaoooaa!"_

Jazz reached under her bed and grabbed a grapple gun. Shooting it out the window, the line tightened and she jumped out of her bedroom.

Other teenagers had the same idea to sneak out and follow Ember's van down the street, cheering.

* * *

><p>For the past several hours, Catherine, Alyss, and I talked about what should be done about Ember. Of course, Tulio was there and the girls quickly filled him in on what had happened.<p>

"There's nothing we really _can_ do about Ember," I sighed, resting my chin in the palm of my hand, "I mean, come on, she's a _ghost!_ The only person who can beat her is Danny."

"And what are we going to do about Sam?" Catherine asked.

"I think it would be best if we didn't involve her in this one," Alyss suggested, "You saw what happened when Danny fell under Ember's spell."

"I know! I feel so bad about that," I groaned. _Stupid Ember! _"Anyways, let's go get Danny before Ember sets her plan into action."

The four of us left the inn and rushed over to the Fenton's.

"Do you think his parents would let us in?" Catherine inquired.

"Probably not," Tulio said gazing up at the two-story building.

I looked up to see Danny's bedroom light was on. "Looks like we're going through the window," I said with hands on hips, studying the building. There was a water drain leading up the side of the building right beside Danny's window. I rushed forward and began climbing the drain.

"Be careful," Tulio said from below me and I rolled my eyes. Just _once_ couldn't he leave me alone and mind his own business? Catherine and Alyss flew by me in their bluebird forms and I was also aware of Tulio right at my feet.

When I finally reached the window, I peeked inside to see Danny sitting cross-legged on his bed surrounded by a bunch of pictures. Upon closer inspection I realized they were photos of _me!_ The first was a picture of me in a black T-shirt; a photo of me standing next to Belle; there was a picture of me with a plaid tank top shortly after my hair had been cut; a picture of a wary Danny looking up at me giving him the bunny-ears; and the final piece with me in two pigtails and purple dress holding a cup of punch. _Creeeeepy!_

I shook my head and knocked on the glass.

Danny turned and smiled at me. "Aralyne! You snuck out to see me! Oh, this is just like Romeo and Juliet except _I'm _the one on the balcony and I can understand everything we're saying."

"Danny," I called out to him, "open up!" He eagerly jumped out of bed and ran to the window, opening it. I quickly climbed inside, but lost my footing and tripped, falling to the floor. "Ow!"

"You want me to open up? Okay," said Danny as I stood up, "Um, one time, when I was five I really wanted a puppy, but my parents -"

"Will you knock it off!" Tulio snapped climbing into the room. Alyss and Catherine flew inside, transforming into humans.

"We have to stop Ember's concert before she takes over the world!" the sisters said simultaneously. The others noticed the shrine on Danny's bed and stared.

"What is _that?!_"

"Creepy."

"This is so wrong."

"Yeah, it's freaking me out," I admitted cringing.

Danny came forward and took hold of my hands. "It doesn't matter! Just so long as we have each other."

"Snap out of it!" I cried grabbing his wrists and pushing his hands away, "You don't feel that way about me and I don't feel that way about you."

He glanced down and smirked. "So why are you still holding my hands?"

I released him completely and groaned in exasperation, walking away.

"Does this mean that we're breaking up?" Danny asked in disappointment.

"Will you stop that!" said Tulio, the irritation clear on his face.

"Stay out of this!" I snapped at Tulio.

"So we're not breaking up?" Danny inquired hopefully.

"How can we be breaking up? We were never together!" I yelled at the ghost boy. I shut my eyes and took a calming breath. "Okay. We're gonna have to deprogram you."

"You're beautiful when you think," Danny said dreamily.

"Ember's concert starts in fifteen minutes," said Catherine, "She gets her power when people chant her name. And with a whole world-wide audience she'll be unstoppable!"

"Then we better bolt down to that show and crank down the volume!" said Tulio grabbing my hand and pulling me back towards the window.

Alyss looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully and muttered, "The volume of a sphere is equal to the square of the race of the base times pi times the height."

There was the little randomness I missed from the sisters!

"Wait, it'll be faster if we fly," I said forcing Tulio to stop. Turning to the younger male, I added, "Danny, do you think you can fly Tulio and me to Ember's concert?"

"Like a date?" Danny said excitedly, then frowned slightly, "But, if it's a date, why would you want to take Tulio with us?"

I bit my lip, quickly thinking up of a lie. I hated to manipulate my friend this way, but the job had to be done. With a sigh, I forced a smile and lowered my eyelids flirtatiously.

"Yes, Danny, a date is _exactly _what it is," I said pulling away from Tulio and walking up to the teenager, "And don't worry about Tulio. He just wants to go to the Ember concert." I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Please, Danny? Do this for me?"

"Okay," Danny said dreamily.

"Thanks!" I exclaimed kissing him on the cheek.

He was beyond pleased as he took hold of my hand. I turned to Tulio to see he was irritated, a muscle in his cheek twitching. I held a hand out to him, and he took it.

"See you there," Catherine said winking at me. I flushed in embarrassment.

Danny flew us out of his house, the sisters following us, and listened. We could hear music playing and followed it out to the woods. The lights shining from the concert were like a beacon gaining our attention. Somehow Ember had created an arena and we watched as all of the teens entered. We snuck past the security guards and landed in the control station.

"Go kill the power. We'll stand watch," I told Alyss when she and Catherine returned to humans. She ran toward the control terminal. When I turned to make sure no one was coming, I found Danny standing before me, gazing at me dreamily. I jumped in surprise and frowned at him. "Uh, can you watch something besides me?"

Danny blinked before taking a photograph of me out of his pocket and stared at it. I smacked my forehead in irritation.

I wondered what was taking Alyss so long and glanced her way.

"Okay," she said examining the control board, and messing with a few things, "cutting off the power. Electrical power equals electrical current times electric potential."

The amps all around the arena suddenly had Alyss's voice. "_Electrical power equals electrical current times electrical potential..._"

_Uh- oh!_


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

_(Songs in this chapter are "RemEmber" by Ember McLain and "I Turn to You" by Christina Aguilera.)_

A few seconds later, a door opened nearby and Ember stepped inside followed by Dash Baxter, his best friend, Kwan, and a few other buff teenagers. She pointed at us. _Busted!_

"We love you Ember!" Dash and Kwan yelled out.

Ember cringed in annoyance at her cheering security guards. She glared at them. "I heard you the _twelfth _time. Now bag 'em and gag 'em!"

Her followers frowned and ran after us. We were all caught before we could move. _Great!_

"If a train moving at 25 miles an hour…." Alyss continued.

We were all dragged to backstage so that we could see Ember's performance.

A control man said, "On the air in five, four -"

Ember leaned in our faces with her guitar and said, "Later, dipsticks. I gotta go rock my world. And when I say my world, I mean _my _world!" She turned and left.

"Danny, stop her now!" I urged the ghost boy, but he closed his eyes defiantly.

"I won't leave you, Aralyne."

"Forget about me!" I yelled.

"I can't! I _won't!_" Danny argued back.

The whole stage blacked out for a second to reveal Ember alone in the spotlight. The crowd erupted in cheers.

"Hell-o, Nesidy! Tell me who you love!" Ember shouted.

"Ember McLain! Ember McLain!"

The drummer began Ember's song. We were too late! It was now being broadcasted around the world!

_"Yeah! Oh whoa!_

_It was, it was September_

_Winds blow, the dead leaves fall_

_To you, I did surrender_

_Two weeks, you didn't call..."_

What were we going to do?! We had to stop this somehow, but Danny was being so annoyingly stubborn!

_"Your life goes on without me_

_My life, a losing game_

_But you should, you should not doubt me_

_You will remember my name"_

"This song is catchy," Catherine said nodding her head to the beat.

"Not helping," Tulio said struggling to break free from his guard.

I bit my lip in worry. How was I going to break the spell on Danny?

_"Oh, Ember, you will remember_

_Ember, one thing remains_

_Oh, Ember, so warm and tender_

_You will remember my name"_

I glanced back and forth between Tulio and Danny and I finally knew what I had to do. I groaned. I couldn't believe I was about to do this! "I hate to do this to you, Danny. But if I can't break Ember's spell I'm going to have to break your heart!"

Breaking free from the guard holding me, I threw my arms around Tulio's neck and planted my lips against his. The kiss startled him.

_"Your heart, your heart has mended_

_You're wrong, now bear the shame_

_Like dead trees, in cold December_

_Nothing but ashes remain..."_

I pulled away and stared into Tulio's eyes, blushing. The kiss was actually nice. No, much more than nice. It felt _magical_. He arched an eyebrow at me, with a slight smile. Biting my lip, I turned towards Danny. He stared at me in disbelief.

"Aralyne, how could you?" Danny said, his voice filled with pain, "How? Hey, get away from her!"

He used his powers to shoot at our captors and they all ran off screaming.

_"Oh, Ember, you will remember_

_Ember, one thing remains_

_Ember, so warm and tender_

_You will remember my name_

_Oh woah woah!"_

"Danny, I'm so sorry," I said pulling away from Tulio.

The ghost boy sadly said, "You and Tulio? But we were, but… we _weren't_, were we?"

"No, Ember did that," I replied.

Danny glared at the ghost singer, his eyes blazing angrily as he growled out, "Ember..."

_"Ember, you will remember_

_Ember, one thing remains_

_Ember, so warm and tender_

_You will remember my name_

_Yeah! You will remember my name"_

I reached out and placed a hand on Danny's arm. "Danny? Are you okay?" I quietly asked.

"No. I feel like my heart's been ripped out, " he snapped, "But I know who I can take it out on!" He pulled away from me and zoomed towards Ember. He punched the teen idol and she flew through the air, slamming into a giant television with her picture on it, cracking the screen. Sparks erupted around her.

"Hey, No-Hit wonder! Mind if I jam with the band?" Danny inquired.

Now angry, Ember surfed on her guitar back to the stage. "Get this straight, dipstick! I don't do duets!" She stopped to hover on the stage and lifted up her guitar, turning one of the dials. She strummed the strings and a green wave with a fist struck Danny.

Zoom out as she raises her fist, glowing green with energy. She strikes a flaming power chord, panning right as a green wave with a fist at the front surges forward.

We was knocked to the ground, putting his hand on his aching head. Groaning, he turned intangible and phased through the ground. Ember returned to the microphone, but before she could sing again, Danny appeared beside her and swiped the mic away.

"Sorry! No vocals in this number! Have you considered taking up mime?" Danny said.

Furious, Ember jumped into the air, swinging her guitar at Danny to knock him off his feet, but he jumped over it. Danny blocked another attack with the mic stand. They went at it for a while using their items as swords. At one point, they both jumped, clashing their "weapons" together that produced a bright wave of blue light. They held it as long as they could until they were both flung away. They landed on their feet, crouched low. Ember jumped up again, screaming as Danny held up his stand. She clubbed Danny with her guitar, causing him to fall backwards and the floorboards to bust up under the force of the smash. Danny landed on his bottom with the microphone stand broken in his hands. Ember dropped her guitar on the ground. She held her fists over her head, emitting pink energy, and threw her hands forward into two energy beams, screaming her head off. The beams struck Danny and held him trapped in a pink swirling vortex. _Danny!_

The crowd continued to cheer for their idol. "Ember! Ember! Ember!"

"Hear that?" she sneered at my best friend, "They're chanting my name all over the world!The revolution _will _be televised!"

"She's too strong," Danny muttered, "If I could just stop the crowd from chanting. Something that will break the spell, like… Aralyne kissing Tulio!" He looked over my way and suddenly smiled. "Aralyne, sing! Take the mic and sing!" He threw it at me and I caught it in surprise.

"Wait, you want me to sing?" I inquired, "Why?"

"Trust me! You rock! You rock out loud!"

I grinned and winked at him, "You got that right!"

I ran out onto the stage taking up the spotlight and began to sing.

_"When I'm lost in the rain,_

_In your eyes I know I'll find the light_

_To light my way._

_And when I'm scared,_

_And losing ground,_

_When my world is going crazy,_

_You can turn it all around._

_And when I'm down you're there_

_Pushing me to the top._

_You're always there,_

_giving me all you've got._

_For a shield from the storm,_

_For a friend, for a love_

_To keep me safe and warm_

_I turn to you._

_For the strength to be strong,_

_For the will to carry on_

_For everything you do,_

_For everything that's true_

_I turn to you."_

I could see Ember's spell on the crowd was wearing off. They had stopped chanting her name and were now watching me instead in total silence.

_"When I lose the will to win,_

_I just reach for you and_

_I can reach the sky again._

_I can do anything_

_'Cause your love is so amazing,_

_'Cause your love inspires me._

_And when I need a friend,_

_You're always on my side_

_Giving me faith_

_taking me through the night"_

Catherine and Alyss ran forward to sing with me.

_"For a shield from the storm,_

_(For a shield from the storm)_

_For a friend, for a love_

_To keep me safe and warm_

_(For a love to keep me safe and warm)_

_I turn to you._

_(I turn to you)_

_For the strength to be strong,_

_(For the strength)_

_For the will to carry on_

_For everything you do,_

_I turn to you_

_For the arms to be my shelter_

_through all the rain,_

_For truth that will never change,_

_For someone to lean on,_

_For a heart I can rely on through anything,_

_For that one who I can run to..._

_For a shield from the storm,_

_For a friend, for a love_

_To keep me safe and warm_

_(To keep me safe and warm)_

_I turn to you_

_(I turn to you)_

_For the strength to be strong,_

_(For the strength)_

_For the will to carry on_

_For everything you do,_

_(Everything you do)_

_For everything that's true_

_For everything you do,_

_For everything that's true_

_I turn to you."_

Ember finally realized what had happened. "What? Wait!" Her hair had stopped glowing and her ponytail practically disappeared. "No, stop!"

The vortex around Danny disappeared.

"No!" Ember yelled out to the crowd who stared at her uninterested, "Tell me who you love!Come on, say it! Say my name. Say my name!" She fell to the ground, her eye twitching.

I threw Danny the thermos and he caught it. "The only thing we're saying here is goodbye!" He sucked her into the thermos, and capped it before she could escape.

Ember's backup band suddenly vanished.

"We rock!" said Catherine as I high-fived her and Alyss.

The crowd started cheering and the three of us bowed to them. We quickly joined Tulio and Danny backstage.

"Danny, that was awesome!" I exclaimed giving him a hug.

"Thanks," he said blushing, "And thanks for breaking Ember's spell. I should really go see Sam and apologize to her."

"Go on," I urged him, "We'll be fine here." He flew off, leaving us behind.

"Soooooo, that was an interesting way to break the spell on Danny," said Catherine sidling up to me, her grin wide.

"Uh," I said, blushing. I glanced over at Tulio who was staring at me, looking amused. I stood straight and simply replied, "I was just trying to break Danny's heart. That is all." Turning around, I accidentally slammed into a wall. _Ouch!_ Alyss and Catherine laughed while I rubbed my sore nose. _Smooth move, genius!_ I scolded myself shooting Tulio another glance. He was trying not to laugh. "I'm going back to the Benbow Inn," I declared trying to walk out of the arena with as much dignity as possible. The others followed me until we eventually made it to the woods and we walked back to Nesidy in silence.

I was fully aware of how close Tulio was walking beside me, making my entire right side tingle. His hand brushed against mine, sending an electrical shock up my arm, and I gasped, pulling my hand away.

Catherine smirked my way and said, "Alyss and I have somewhere to be right now."

"What? No we don't," Alyss replied.

"Yeah, we do," Catherine confirmed, "We were going to get you another sandwich."

"Ooh! A sandwich!" Alyss exclaimed, "Let's go!"

The sisters turned into bluebirds and left me alone in the woods with Tulio.

"Traitors," I grumbled under my breath.

"So, about that kiss," said Tulio getting straight to the point.

"What about it?" I said in embarrassed irritation.

"Why did you do it? There were several other men in that room."

"Well, I certainly wasn't going to kiss some stranger," I replied coolly, "What kind of girl do you think I am?"

"One that doesn't admit her feelings to herself," he said, "When you're angry, you act like you're fine. When you're sad or upset, you tend to shut down and hide. When you're afraid, you become defensive. And when you're in love, you act like you don't care."

I came to an abrupt halt, and felt my face turn red. "I do _not_ get defensive!" I snapped, "You don't know a thing about me! Like I said, I only kissed you because I wasn't going to kiss some stranger! And besides, you're breath smelled bad anyways!" _Okay, totally lame comeback!_ _Why does he make me feel like an idiot?!_

Tulio sighed and mumbled under his breath, "Why do I love you, again?"

"_Excuse me?!_" I shouted rounding on him, "I am _not_ your true love, and you are certainly _not_ mine! I don't even consider you a friend!"

"Then what am I to you?!" he snapped back at me.

"Nothing! You're _nothing_ to me! I wish more than anything that you would just go away and leave me alone!"

"Dammit, Aralyne! _What_ do I need to do to have you remember who I am?! What you _mean_ to me?!" He suddenly grabbed me beneath the shoulders and kissed me full on the lips. His words rang through my mind, _When you're afraid, you become defensive. And when you're in love, you act like you don't care._ I managed to squirm out of his grasp and punched him in the jaw.

"You - You - _BASTARD!_" I screamed before running away from him, tears spilling from my eyes. _When you're sad or upset, you tend to shut down and hide._

I got back to Nesidy and sprinted to the Benbow Inn. From there, I raced up into my bedroom, and slammed the door shut behind me. Alyss and Catherine weren't back yet, so I was left alone. Leaning against the door, I slid down and sobbed into my arms. Everything he said about me was true. So, why did I feel so miserable?


End file.
